Roommates
by embracing-shadows
Summary: They've been living together for seven years when suddenly a series of harmless events turn their lives upside down in the best way possible. SLASH
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!

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Nick and Warrick both looked up from laying out their evidence photos when Greg hurtled in to the room. He had just opened his mouth to say something when he tripped over his own shoelaces and crashed headlong in to Nick. As Warrick laughed uproariously the Texan just chuckled and caught his younger friend deftly. He set Greg back on his own two unreliable feet and raised an amused eyebrow.

"Eh heh…" Greg gave a small embarrassed laugh. "Uh Nick we're buddies right? Pals you might say!" He whipped out his most charming and innocent smile, clasping his hands together. Nick narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What do you want Greggo?" he asked bluntly. That face never boded well for him, he knew from much experience. Greg dropped the façade and his expression twisted in to annoyance at himself and a little bit of exasperation.

"I forgot my key! I need yours!" He declared. Nick burst out laughing at how plaintive he sounded, reaching in to his pocket for his key ring. He searched through them until he came to the right one and began fighting with it as he berated his friend for his forgetfulness. Finally the little metal object came free and he handed it over. Greg took it gratefully, flashed him a brilliant smile, and ran out quickly. Nick went back to his work, whistling a tune to himself, until he felt a small prickle on the back of his neck.

He looked up to find Warrick staring at him with an unreadable expression. His hand was hanging in midair, a photo of a blood spatter dangling from his fingers where he had paused in the act of placing it somewhere. Nick tilted his head and shifted under the man's inscrutable gaze, a little uncomfortable.

"What?" he demanded. Warrick blinked and slowly placed the picture he was holding in its correct spot, a slow mischievous smile growing on his face. He grinned up at Nick and gave him a tiny little wink.

"Can I ask why you have a key to Sanders' place?" he snickered dirtily and Nick blinked.

"Well…maybe because I live with him?" he replied, cool as a cucumber. When Warrick's laughter dropped away and was replaced by total shock Nick shook his head in wonder. "I thought you guys all _knew_!" He claimed. The taller man spluttered about and threw his hands in the air as if that were a ridiculous statement. Which Nick knew it wasn't. He really had thought the rest of the team had known. Apparently he was wrong.

"No! Of course we didn't know! What the hell, since when?" Warrick looked incredulous and a trifle angry. He probably thought Nick was trying to hide something about it from him, though the Texan couldn't for the life of him figure out what he would have to be hiding. He gave a nonchalant shrug, since this was all very old news to him, and continued placing photos in their pattern on the lit up table.

"Since just after the whole Crane thing," he admitted. "I didn't want to be alone, and the tenants in his apartment had some sort of problem with him. He was getting harassed about something or other. So we found a place together. Are you serious, you guys didn't know?" He looked up curiously to see Warrick rolling his eyes and that was all the answer he needed to that question. It struck him as very funny that Greg and him could live together for seven years and have no one figure it out. He resisted doing any teasing though, since that wouldn't help anything. He watched Warrick for any signs of anger and was surprised to see his face take on a sly cast and he got another wink.

"So…you and Sanders huh?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Nick titled his head, not sure exactly what the context of that question was. He frowned and nodded slowly, then it hit him and his violently shook his head and stared at his friend like he'd grown another head. How could he possibly think that? How dare he even suggest it!

"Oh my god, _NO_!" Nick half-shouted. "Jesus, where do you get off? We're just roommates you sick bastard. You can finish the rest of this on your own." He glared one last time and stormed out of the room, ignoring Warrick's apology. He fled down to the lockers and opened his, pausing for a moment. On the inside of the door he had taped up a picture of his parents, as well as a group shot of the night shift, but right on top there was a snapshot of him and Greg, their arms thrown about each other's shoulders and holding up their brand new keys. It was taken by a new neighbor on the day they'd gotten their apartment. They both grinned at the camera, but held each other tight. He grudgingly admitted that it was easy to see where Warrick had gotten his inappropriate idea, but still. The fact that he would suggest it made him very angry for some reason.

When he'd gathered his things he stomped out to the garage and sped away in his truck, forcing himself to follow the speed limits. Sometimes responsibility had its downsides. When he arrived at the apartment complex he and Greg lived in he couldn't resist slamming his truck door shut, and he almost forgot to wave to their neighbor when she called out to him, as she did every day. They lived on the ground floor, which was good for coming home drunk, but they'd chosen it because it gave the illusion of coming home to an actual house. Only they weren't allowed upstairs.

Nick had his keys out and was looking through them before he realized that he'd given his to Greg, and the door would be unlocked for him. So he just let himself in and threw the door closed behind him with a little more force than necessary, allowing a frustrated "God!" to escape his lips. Greg looked up from the Xbox 360 game he was playing and gave his trademark smirk.

"I'm right here," he declared. Nick paused and suddenly grinned, his bad mood already dissipating. One thing he loved about living with Greg was that no matter how bad he felt at work, as soon as he got home his buddy was there to cheer him up. Some people who lived with friends grew to hate each other, but the two of them had only grown closer. Nick couldn't say he was surprised. Greg could charm the birds from the trees. Feeling a lot better, he dropped his kit beside the one already on the floor and tore off his shirt, tossing it across the back of the couch and heading for the kitchen.

He heard Greg shouting through the rooms to ask what was wrong, but told him to wait until he was holding food. The fridge was a mixture of crazy Californian diet and sensible Texan food. Chocolate and sugar warred for space with vegetables and fruit. All in all, it actually improved them both, giving them a previously unachieved balance between good and bad. That is, once Greg had persuaded Nick that he wouldn't get fat off the occasional treat, and after Nick had convinced Greg that he wouldn't die from eating a carrot.

Eventually he found a jar of pickles that looked inviting, so he brought it with him to the living room, dropping down beside his roommate and observing the other people in the game dropping like flies before Sanders' Superior Skill, as it was often called. It was usually called that when Nick lost in one of their video game marathons. He munched on a pickle.

"So? What's got you all riled up? You were fine when I left." Greg didn't look away from the TV screen as he spoke, but narrowed his eyes, intent on someone he was scoping out. He cried out triumphantly as they fell dead from his barrage of bullets, completely unaware of who had killed them. "In your face!" he yelled out. Nick grinned but frowned suddenly when Warrick's words came back to him.

"Did you realize that none of the guys at work knew we lived together?" he asked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Greg actually look away from the screen and cast him a brief, slightly guilty glance. It caught his attention and he wondered about it until Greg replied.

"Oh, um, yeah well I didn't think you'd want them to know so…I never told anyone…" he went a little more still than usual, still shooting at people. Nick blinked and turned to give the blonde his full attention. He opened his mouth to ask but thought the better of it. That wasn't the issue that was in his mind at the moment. So he shook his head and almost growled out loud as his earlier irritation returned.

"Warrick actually had the gall to think this was some kind of…shack up…that we were…you know…involved!" Nick waved his jar of pickles as he gesticulated, sloshing the juice on to his jeans. That made him stop and look at it absently. Oh well, he decided. They needed to be washed anyway. He saw Greg send him a very calm, sidelong glance.

"Did he now?" was all he said, returning to the television. He didn't seem angry or disgusted. Actually, he didn't even seem interested in the conversation anymore, which was odd. Greg was a talker, sometimes even in his sleep. Nick stared at him, wondering why he didn't have anything to say about this. Knowing him, the lady-killer, Nick had expected him to be indignant and start in to some story about some wild date. Actually, the Texan had been looking forward to the distraction. Instead he seemed to be absorbed by his game, or was pretending to be.

Unsure of how to take this newfound disinterest, Nick got up and replaced his jar of pickles in the fridge and started looking around for something to make for their dinner. Even if it was technically breakfast time for most people, he just felt like cooking according to his internal clock. A smile graced his features when he found a pair of steaks in the freezer. Not too long after he was calling Greg in to come get his food. As soon as Nick had the words out of his mouth Greg was bounding in with a large grin. Seemingly without thinking about it he cast an arm about Nick's waist as he grabbed his plate, muttering something that sounded like 'you're too good to me'. And then he was gone again.

Nick stood in the middle of the kitchen, his own plate forgotten in his hands. Any other day that wouldn't seem abnormal to him at all. They'd grown so close in the last seven years of living together that it was normal to show a little affection. But now that he thought about it, they acted exactly like Warrick was thinking. Without any sexual intentions that is. After a while of thinking about it, he decided it didn't really bother him if they acted like that because it was platonic both ways. He was straight, and there wasn't a possibility in the world of Greg being anything but the same. So he smiled and took a bite of his steak, immediately coughing and almost spitting it back out. He'd been standing there so long it had gone cold.

He sighed and put it in the microwave. While he waited Greg came and shoved his plate in to the dishwasher, ruffling his hair on the way by to grab a bottle of water. Nick smiled and watched him closely as he rummaged in the fridge. When they had first moved in, Greg had been so skinny he looked ready to collapse. Then he had started working out alongside Nick. Now he had rounded out and developed a generous amount of muscle as well, giving him a solid stature. His taste in clothes hadn't mellowed appreciably, but at least they fit him now, instead of hanging off his body like a scarecrow. His hair was still splotched with random spots of yellow, and though Nick often thought of him as blonde, his roots were as chocolaty as his big eyes.

When the unwitting observed stood up he was sporting his million-dollar smile, holding up a tub of icing and looking at it like it were the woman he'd been waiting all his life for. A spoonful later and his face had an almost sexual look of ecstasy. Then he left to go play his game again, bringing the icing as a snack. Nick leaned against the cupboard, thinking. About what, he didn't know, but it had something to do with the man he shared his home with. An hour later he was still in the kitchen and he hadn't gotten anywhere, so he grabbed his shirt off the couch and went to bed.

Nick woke with a start as something exceedingly cold brushed his arm. He jerked and saw the shivering figure of Greg lying in his bed, back towards him. Without stopping to think he reached out and pulled the man closer, noting how cold his skin was. The first time they had slept in the same bed, they'd been living together for two years, and Nick had had a horrible nightmare about the glass box. His screams had woken Greg, and the younger man had come and held him until he fell asleep again. He hadn't shown a hint of discomfort the next evening when they woke up tangled in each other. After that, it just became normal that if either of them had a nightmare, or even if they were just cold, like now, they would wordlessly crawl in with the other. Through his haze of sleep, Nick could feel Greg snuggling closer.

"Ah, Texas heat," the younger man murmured, already on the verge of oblivion. Nick smiled and closed his eyes again, until Warrick's words once more slammed in to his brain. As he suddenly tensed, soft breathing evened out and he was left the only one awake and kept that way with his awkward thoughts. It took hours to convince himself he was reading way too much in to everything and allow sleep to come back to him. By that time, it was only a short while until he was being shaken awake. He hid his head under the pillow and groaned. The world was too cruel, to wake him at this hour.

"Niiiiiiick, do you want to be late?" The pillow muffled Greg's sing song voice, but those were just the right words to get him up. Damn it. Live with a person for just a little while and suddenly they know you better than you know yourself. He threw the pillow away and saw that Greg was already showered and dressed, and soundlessly laughing at him. He scowled and rolled out of the bed.

He got ready as slowly as he could afford and let Greg drive today; he was just too tired. When they arrived at the lab together, as they had done almost every day for he last seven years, they could see people's heads poking out of their stations and staring at them curiously. They looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and continued to their lockers. Maybe five minutes later Cath and Sara showed up. They tried to be nonchalant, but it was all too obvious what they wanted. They didn't ask anything, just stood there silently, until the boys couldn't take it.

"Spit it out already!" Greg finally shot over his shoulder exasperatedly. "Yes we live together, no we're not dating, is there anything else?" Nick tried to disguise his snort of laughter as a cough, but it didn't come off well, and Greg smiled at him. The two women gaped for a moment longer before Sara huffed and crossed her arms.

"How did you manage to not tell us this for _seven years_?" she demanded. The two boys had to think about that. Greg stared in to his open locker, not actually seeing any of the spare clothes inside of it, and spoke to the two behind him without turning around.

"I thought Nick would be uncomfortable with people knowing, so I didn't say anything. But really you guys, you're CSIs, shouldn't you have figured it out on your own? I was always there when you dropped by, my stuff was everywhere. Half the time I wasn't wearing a shirt. We always come in the same car. How did you _not_ know?" he absently played with one of the shirts, unfolding and refolding it, trying to busy himself so he wouldn't have to look at anyone. He could feel Nick's eyes on him and he wasn't sure if he wanted to meet them or not.

"I figured you guys hung out a lot," Catherine said. "Although I suppose the car and the shirt should have tipped us off. You know Sara, he's right. We're pretty bad at our job if it was this obvious and we never picked up on it." Sara could be heard to huff again, slightly offended by that statement. Then Catherine spoke up again. "So why did you think Nick would be uncomfortable?" Greg tensed a bit when he felt Nick's eyes bore in to him with even more intensity, no doubt wondering the same thing. He pretended to be absorbed in rummaging through his things for something on the bottom.

"I…" Greg stuttered for words, his head deep in the small metal box. "Uh, well I guess I thought you guys might all react like Warrick did and Nick's about as straight as the Nevada borderline. I just didn't- well I didn't want him to- ok so I thought he might be ashamed of it. Anywho, I need some coffee." With that the blonde man tossed the door of his locker closed and bolted away from any other questions that might arise. Instead of heading for the break room, however, he went straight to Grissom's office.

The boss had him working a scene alone, thankfully, and he set off in the Jetta he'd driven to get here. Nick was paired with Catherine, so they could take her car. Besides, they didn't have keys to each other's vehicles, so it's not like he was inconveniencing the other man by taking the car. As he pulled away, he sighed in relief, knowing that he would have at least a few hours until Nick confronted him, or hopefully he had a few hours in which Nick would forget what he said.

When they'd gotten the apartment together, they hadn't discussed whether or not to tell people. They were both so swept up in the idea that they had someone friendly to live with and they didn't have to always be alone anymore that it took six months to come down from that high, and by then the issue was rather pointless. But Greg had always wondered. Would Nick be weird about telling their coworkers he lived with another man? And after the second year he wondered if he would be ashamed to admit that sometimes they shared the same bed. It wasn't anything sexual, but Greg knew it was still far away from the norm. He sighed as the car rolled to a stop outside of a simple B&E, dropping his head to the steering wheel.

If Nick suddenly stopped and pulled away from him, Greg wasn't sure what he would do. He'd grown too complacent, letting himself fall deeper and deeper in to the patterns. He'd come to rely on the comfort of Nick, and begun taking advantage of having a safe place to hide. Without that warm Texan blanket, he wasn't sure he'd last. His dreams would in all likelihood drive him to the brink, and without the cool calm words that had reined him in time after time, Greg wasn't sure he wouldn't explode under the pressure. With another deep sigh he unbuckled himself and went in to take a frightened lady's statement.

Back at the lab, Catherine and Nick were stuck there doing paperwork, not having any more leads to follow on their case. They'd already been out to their scene after having searched everywhere for Greg and turning up empty-handed. But after an hour there was nothing left to process, so here they were, waiting for Hodges to finish running their trace while they wrote up the current reports. Nick felt his mind drift away the papers in front of him many times, and didn't bother trying to deny that it was Greg in his head. He kept replaying the words the man had said. _I thought he might be ashamed_. How could Greg think he would be ashamed?

Nick let out a sound of disgust, knowing he wasn't getting anywhere, and stood to get more coffee. It tasted like crap, but it penetrated the fog in his brain. He picked up his pen again, uncharacteristically chewing the end as he stared blindly at the break table. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped a little, looking around wildly. It was just Catherine though, reaching out to him with a look of concern in her eyes.

"You're still thinking about him too, huh?" she asked. He gave her an easy smile and nodded. Even if she was only eight years older, she slipped so easily in to the mother role that he felt young again all of a sudden. His emotions, however, were suffering a very adult confusion.

"Why would I be ashamed of him Cath? He's my best friend." He knit his brows together. Voicing the question only seemed to make it sound worse, and he didn't like that at all. Catherine brought him back to reality again when she shook her head, obviously as out of answers as he was. But her face showed concern and he sensed that it wasn't all directed at him. She was worried about the youngest CSI as well.

"Well he mentioned your being straight," she said slowly. "Maybe he thought you didn't want people getting the wrong idea like Warrick did. I know he looks like he's got all the confidence in the world, but haven't you ever noticed how fragile he really is?" Nick raised one eyebrow and she continued. "He's very self-conscious. I'd be willing to bet my job that he didn't tell anyone because he was worried it would hurt you, and you might want him to leave." Nick opened his mouth to say something but Hodges chose that moment to run in waving their results.

The substance they found actually opened a lead, and Nick sat in the passenger side brooding all the way to where ever it was Catherine was taking them. What she had said made a lot of sense, and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. He thought back to all the times people would ask Greg when they would get to see his place. Both he and Nick would laugh, thinking it to be a joke, because they thought people knew their living arrangements. But now that he thought about it, that would have been the perfect opportunity for Greg to speak up, and if he thought about it more he realized that Greg's laughter at that joke was always a trifle nervous.

So he _was_ afraid. He was afraid of hurting Nick. The older man felt a small bubble of fondness swelling in his chest and he suddenly smiled at his window. A better friend, no man could ask for. When they pulled up to a small rundown bakery he had an extra bounce in his step as they walked inside. Catherine seemed to know exactly where his thoughts had ended up, since she rested a fond hand on his shoulder as they walked inside the dark shop.

The rest of the day went very slow for both Greg and Nick. One dreaded going home and the other couldn't wait for it. Greg's foul, nervous mood must have somehow shown on his face. He noticed that the witnesses he interviewed all seemed a little frightened of talking with him. Often his friendly open face made him the only one that they would speak to, and it had been a cause for great amusement between him and the others. Today, he was in no mood for niceties, so recorded their statements stone faced and processed the scene in silence.

It was starting to look like more than the simple break and enter it had been called in as, and when his investigation of the perimeter turned up a dead body in the bushes he sighed. This only meant extra work, longer hours, and less sleep. His only silver lining was that it meant he could avoid facing Nick for a little bit longer. Backup was called in, bringing Grissom to his scene, and he was unaware that his unnatural silence bothered his mentor. He worked without the normal jokes, not feeling up to it, and instead took his cue from the older CSI to just get in, do it right, and get out. It still took hours.

By the time they were finished he was dying for something to drink. The water bottle in the Jetta was warm, but still felt heavenly sliding down his parched throat. He followed Grissom back to the lab and offered to bring all the evidence in to be logged. It was stacked so high that he couldn't see in front of himself, so as he dragged himself through the halls he didn't spot Nick until he they drew abreast of each other.

"Greg!"

"AH!" The blonde yelled, startled by Nick's not so sudden appearance. The evidence he was carrying toppled out of his arms. Thankfully, there was nothing breakable in any of the bags, or he would have been in so much trouble. They both stared down at the brown paper and clear plastic now littering the hall and Nick suddenly burst out laughing. Greg scowled as he bent to pick it all up, piling it precariously in one arm, using the other to gather more. Still scowling, he turned to walk away but Nick grabbed his arm, taking the top of the pile away.

"Here, let me help," he offered. Greg eyed him suspiciously but he pulled an innocent face and led the way, leaving the blonde to scurry after him. They both stayed silent until all the bags were recorded and put away, and neither said a word while they walked side by side to their lockers, again ignoring the curious stares from the lab rats. Greg had his shirt half off, covering his head, when Nick finally decided to speak up and assuage his worries.

"You know, you didn't have to be afraid," he spoke up out of nowhere. "I'm not ashamed of living with you G." Greg lost his balance, and would have toppled over the bench if Nick hadn't caught him and sat him down. He fought with the evil garment until he was able to tear it off, throw it away, and stare at his best friend. Nick was smiling down at him with those eyes crinkled fondly and his lips pushed up at the corners like they did when he was truly happy about something. Greg loved to see him happy, but he didn't understand what was causing it right now. So he settled for staring. Nick chuckled, reaching in to Greg's locker and picking out a wild red and yellow shirt for him, tossing it over.

"You're not embarrassed by me?" Greg asked in a small voice. Nick stared down at him, smile falling off. He was quick to kneel down in front of the younger man and put a hand on his arm reassuringly.

"G, no way!" he cried. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for. Now, what do you say we head home? I could really go for some of those pancakes you make so well." He stood up and indicated the exit with a tilt of his head. Greg took a few more seconds to process his words, then he smiled brightly, almost shyly. He stood as well, put on the shirt that had been tossed to him, and grabbed his kit from beside his feet. They headed off together and were just passing the break room when the door burst open.

"'Scuse me Nick I need him for a second, thanks!" Warrick exploded out of nowhere, speaking rapidly, then suddenly he had grabbed Greg by the collar of his shirt, yanked him in to the room, and slammed the door. Nick stared at it, stunned in to immobility. He tried the handle and found it locked. The curtains were drawn across the large glass window, so he couldn't even see inside to watch their reactions. With a huff he crossed his arms and waited impatiently.

It didn't take very long for the door to open again, and when it did he was afire with curiosity. That curiosity went down in flames, however, and was replaced with worry when Greg came out alone and looking suddenly morose. He'd been vibrating with happiness a minute ago, what could possibly have happened? Greg refused to answer though, and Warrick had shut and locked the door again to keep him out. Nick badgered Greg all the way to the car, and all the way home. When they got there, the blonde shook himself and smiled brightly – falsely – at Nick.

"So, pancakes?" he said with fake cheer. Nick watched him gathering the utensils he would need and wondered what could possibly have been said to cause such a terrible shift in moods. Greg was almost never down, it was just who he was, so bad moods were always to be taken special note of. It meant something big had happened. He continued to wonder, but Greg refused all attempts to find out. The Californian could dodge questions with the best of them, and he knew all the best ways to divert Nick's attention. It usually involved food or taking about women. Tonight it was food.

Though Nick had ostensibly dropped the issue as soon as he had been fed, Greg knew better. He did his best to appear as normal as he could. After a good sleep, he'd be a better actor, but for now, all he wanted was to curl up and forget. So after he had eaten he sank himself in to a video game, losing at football five times in a row, before he headed to bed with great relief.

Sleep would not come to him, though. He tossed and turned long after he heard Nick shut the systems down and go to bed. No doubt he was in the other room, easily asleep. Greg was loath to wake him two nights in a row, but he needed comfort right now. It was noon when he slipped from his own bed and crept across the hall, pausing in the doorway for a moment. Nick was lying on his side, a tiny ray of sunlight slipping past the blackout curtains to fall across his exposed back. He had apparently kicked the blankets down unconsciously. Greg smiled as stole under the sheets next to him, curling up behind him and inhaling his calming scent. It was like breathing in the desert heat.

Nick mumbled, signifying that he hadn't totally been asleep, and rolled over. He sleepily pushed Greg on his back and laid his dark head on the Californian's chest, letting slip a small contented noise. Greg let himself relax in to the familiar position and he closed his eyes, the sound of rhythmic breathing soothing his troubled mind. Within minutes he slept, blissfully unaware that Nick lay awake, ear pressed to his heart, and worried.


	2. Chapter 2

Nick continued to watch Greg closely for the next week. He tried to find some clue, any hint at all, to tell him what had gotten him so down, but when he had woken up the next morning he'd bounced right back to normal. He'd been so full of energy and smiles for the next week that Nick had actually started to worry that the stress of the new job was getting to him. Warrick was no help; he refused to let Nick in on what had passed between them.

They went home together today in Nick's truck, followed closely by Warrick in the lab's Tahoe. It was Friday, and Nick and Greg both had the day off tomorrow, so their dark skinned colleague had suggested they all have a few beers as a sort of late house warming thing. Nick had seen nothing wrong with the suggestion, but he had thought for a second that he saw Greg glaring at Warrick when the word 'beer' came out. The look was gone so fast Nick was sure it was a trick of the light.

His mind further dismissed the thought when Greg greeted Warrick enthusiastically at the door and took the beer from his hands. Warrick asked to see Greg's room and the younger man was only too happy to show him. When they came back out, Nick handed them both a beer and they all sat down to do as boys do. With beer comes pizza, as is the age old tradition, and Nick insisted on buying, so a half hour later he was deep in to his third beer and struggling to keep his hands still enough to eat his food.

Although Nick didn't know it, there was a common knowledge around the workplace that you just didn't give Nick Stokes a beer unless you were prepared to give up on all serious conversation. After a couple, it was well known that he wouldn't remember a thing the next day, and that he tended to babble and do unexpected things. He was embarrassed to admit his surprisingly low tolerance of alcohol, and it led him time and again to try and keep up with his friends.

So here he was, having an animated argument with a slice of pepperoni and onion pastry, demanding to know why it didn't want to be eaten, and completely oblivious to the laughter of the other two in the room. He was completely oblivious of them as well, until Warrick put his hand over Nick's and led the food to his waiting mouth. Nick thanked him around his mouthful, but only got a shaking head in return. On the dark armchair across the room, Greg was watching him with a grin. He knew the beer rule better than anyone else, and he was wondering just what odds Warrick was gambling with. There was beer here for a reason, and he wanted to know what that reason was. Trouble was, the guy had a great poker face.

As soon as the poker analogy flashed through his brain, Nick read it in the air and was suddenly excited by the idea of playing cards. They played Rummy, which Nick had no comprehension for after his fifth beer, and on the sixth beer it turned in to Go Fish. Nick did a lot of fishing. Especially when it wasn't even his turn. They were playing with Greg's college deck, and it had a bunch of skimpy dressed ladies on them, which the drunken man seemed to find all too interesting. Greg frowned in to his cards all of a sudden.

"Alright Warrick, you've gotten him good and drunk. Now what the hell do you want from it?" Greg asked out of nowhere. The man referred to was having a very hard time popping the top off his next drink. Greg absently took it away from him, ignoring his protests. Instead of explaining himself, Warrick announced that it was time for him to leave. He ruffled Nick's short hair and let himself out, leaving Greg to deal with his sloshed roommate alone. The blonde sighed and stood up.

"Bedtime Nicky," he declared. Nick looked up at him and blinked wildly.

"Can I bring the cards?" he asked, his words a little too well pronounced. He was wearing that smile that Greg couldn't say no to, even after all these years, so he found himself nodding and dragging the man in to his arms and down the hall. He pushed Nick in to the shower fully clothed, closing the glazed door and fetching pajama bottoms. After leaving them on the counter, he went to clear away the bottles. Nick stumbled out later in the clothes Greg had left and he wanted to dance.

It took a while to convince him to go to bed, but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was down for the count. Greg shook his head and hung up the soaked clothes, then he went to bed himself. The shadows on his wall mocked him as noon approached, and he was watching his clock, waiting for it to reach 12:00, when he fell asleep unexpectedly. His dreams were not well.

Nick groaned and grabbed a hold of his head, trying desperately to quell the pounding inside of it. He involuntarily brought up the image of tiny little men with tiny little hammers, but refused to laugh since it would only hurt more. As he lay there with a pillow on his face, blocking the fading light, Nick tried in vain to recall the events of the night before. He remembered Warrick coming over, and there was something about an unsteady piece of pizza. After that, things went blank and he groaned, hoping he hadn't embarrassed himself.

"Oh you're awake," a soft voice drifted in from the doorway. Nick lifted the pillow and squinted up at Greg as he came over carrying something the Texan's mind was too clogged to identify. "I was going to leave these beside you, but I bet you need them now," the voice was still soft and cautious. Nick opened one of his eyes again and finally recognized Aspirin and a cup of water. With a low grumble of thanks he took them. As he swallowed the pills he looked down, and was startled to find his bed riddled with naked girls. Or pictures of them anyway. Dirty little cards were thrown everywhere about him, and he raised an eyebrow. Greg grinned maliciously.

"You found them very interesting," he explained bluntly. "I didn't bother asking why you wanted to bring them to bed with you." Nick groaned low in his throat and let his head drop back to the bed. Greg's soft laughter drifted away as the Californian disappeared down the hall, leaving him alone with his misery.

Another hour and the headache had only mostly gone away, but Nick was now dying of hunger. The smell of bacon perked him up and he wandered in to the kitchen, dropping the cards he'd gathered on to the table. He sat down beside them and Greg immediately placed a large plate of bacon eggs and toast in front of him. He flashed his friend a grateful smile and dug in. Greg didn't have any for himself. He just stood with his coffee and watched, a small smile tugging at his lips. In the middle of eating, Nick remembered the cards.

"Here, I brought these back out for you," he said, pointing at the deck with his fork. Greg nodded but didn't move to come get them. Suddenly Nick slowed his movements and stared hard in to his plate as a very random, yet kind of important thought struck his tired brain. "Hey Greggo, can I ask you a question?" he asked. Greg nodded. "In the seven years we've lived together…I don't think I've seen you go on a single date." Greg's coffee was suddenly all over the floor, although it had been in his mouth a moment ago. Nick wiped a stray droplet off his cheek.

"That's…not exactly a question," Greg hedged as he grabbed a rag and knelt to wipe up his wasted drink. But Nick was snagged on the thought and didn't want to let it go that easily.

"I'm serious. Have you even had a single date since we moved in here?" he asked. Greg slowly met his eyes, but didn't answer. He continued to scrub at the floor until all the coffee was cleaned up, and then he rinsed it in the sink and left it on the counter to throw in the laundry later. He took a deep breath and faced Nick again.

"No…I've…I haven't actually gone on a date since we moved in…" he admitted. Nick gaped. He'd gone on very little himself, not really finding the time for romance. But Greg was someone who always had a story about a date, always had something wild to share about the fairer sex. Apparently all these dates had happened _many_ years ago, or even not at all. It was just like him to make stuff up to impress people. Nick shook his head as he watched Greg pour a new cup.

"Well, no worries Greggo," he declared magnanimously. "We'll find you a nice girl." Nick could have sworn his ears were playing tricks on him, but he thought he heard Greg mutter in to the coffee he held 'don't want a nice girl'. That couldn't have been what he heard though, so he let it pass. "So why haven't you dated?" he wondered out loud. He heard on of his friend's small nervous sighs.

"What would you do if I brought a date home?" Greg asked in reply. Nick blinked. That thought hadn't occurred to him, he'd been busy with the other one. After a moments consideration though he was quick to say that it wouldn't bother him at all. His joke that maybe he'd even learn a few things made Greg choke again, but no spluttering happened. He asked what was wrong. Greg stared at him for a long time before turning away.

"Learn a few things indeed," he murmured to himself, seemingly unaware that he had said it out loud. Nick watched him go, shrugged, and finished his plate of food. If it wasn't the most heavenly thing he'd ever eaten in his life, then he was a purple chicken. When it was all gone he devoured half of a second plate and put his dishes away to be washed mechanically. Then the sound of some senseless show of the TV called to him and he joined his best friend in the fun little sport of melting your brain with nonsense.

The rest of the night off the two of them relaxed and did nothing in particular, and neither mentioned the subject of dating again. Nick watched the television and Greg joined him between sporadic fits of cleaning. Since this was one of his normal ways to burn off extra energy, Nick paid him no mind when he would suddenly jump up and grab a broom or murmur something about laundry. He had no idea the turmoil going on inside the lad's head.

The next evening they went to work in Nick's pick up, and the blonde was set to work with Warrick. And this time, Nick was positive that it was no trick of the light, he _had_ seen his roomy send his assigned partner a death glare across the room. He had time to blink, and then it slipped his mind as Grissom sent him away to the strip. His case today involved a stripper, so he was forced to spend much of his energy trying to forget the image of Kristy, the girl he'd been accused of murdering. By the end of the day he was exhausted, glad to just slink through the glass hallways with home on his mind.

He stopped dead when he glanced up and spotted Greg and Warrick. They stood behind the glass of the AV lab, and the expression on Warrick's face was thunderous. Greg's back was facing Nick, so his expression was hidden, but they were both waving their arms in the midst of an animated argument. The room they were in was sound proofed, so none of their words were leaking out, and Nick found himself suddenly jealous of Grissom's ability to read lips. Just as he was about to step over and open the door to ask them what was going on, Greg turned and shoved the door open.

"I'm just watching out for you!" Warrick's loud voice suddenly flooded the hall, turning the heads of everyone in the halls.

"Well don't!" Greg shouted back. His face was darker than Nick had ever seen it, and he seemed near to tears. Behind him, Warrick shook his head and stormed off in the opposite direction while Greg made a beeline for the lockers. Nick wasn't sure whom to follow; they were both his friends! In the end, Warrick won out because he was the one who started it the week before, and Nick needed to know exactly what had been started. He hurried down the hall and found Warrick with his hands against the wall just outside the morgue.

"Warrick man, what the hell is going on between you two?" Nick asked as he came closer. When the taller man looked up, all anger had been washed away and he looked weary and exasperated. He shook his head again and dragged a hand across his eyes wearily.

"Sorry man, I can't say. Trust me you…you don't want to know anyway." Nick scowled at this non-answer, but his friend remained adamant. His lips stayed sealed, so Nick rolled his eyes and went in search of Greg. He stepped in to the locker room and stopped. Greg didn't look upset at all. He was bouncing and trying to convince Sara to join him in a dance. She refused, but she was smiling good-naturedly at the boy. Greg asked Nick if he'd like to dance, but he shook his head in wonder, more confused by the minute. What the hell was going on in this lab that he didn't know about?

Nick watched Greg and Warrick ever more closely after that, since their case kept them close together for the rest of the week. Whatever it was that they had been fighting over, they appeared to have worked through the very next day, because when they headed off together in Greg's Jetta they were chatting away like nothing had happened. Nick felt his CSI instincts kick in, but it was none of his business. He squashed them and moved on with his own case.

The days continued on with a certain familiar rhythm. He and Catherine solved their case and moved on to solve another. By Thursday they were on their third, and they'd started to tease the other two about being slow. Grissom stayed holed up in his office unless Warrick and Greg needed him for extra hands. The lab rats were having some sort of contest, and it distracted them sufficiently enough that they didn't even bother trying to mess with the CSIs. Results were given over without a fight for the whole week, and they began to wonder which deity had smiled down upon them.

Friday night rolled around again, and with it came a certain relief. Nick looked forward to his evening off with Greg; lounging around and letting the world pass by sounded absolutely amazing to him. Greg appeared to agree, since he caught a taxi home instead of waiting for his roommate. They'd come in Nick's truck today, and Nick had had to stay only an extra half hour to writer a report. Normally, Greg would just wait and chat up whichever ladies were hanging about, but today he seemed eager to leave. He almost shimmered with pent up energy.

Finally Nick was done and he hopped in his truck, taking a moment to heave a deep breath in and out slowly, forcing the tension in his shoulders to ease off. When he felt a little more relaxed he gunned the engine and left as fast as was allowed by law. The old lady next door called her daily hello to him and he waved at her with a great big smile, feeling inexplicably good. As he stuck his key in the lock and let himself in, his wondering whether or not Greg would feel up to losing at football games was cut off. The house was silent. Nick frowned and put his kit down next to Greg's, walking a bit further in. The TV was off, the radio was off, and Nick was a little weirded out.

Finally he spotted a messy note left on the table. He recognized Greg's hurried scrawl, but it only said 'gone out', nothing else. With a raised eyebrow, Nick took the note with him as he went to rummage threw the fridge. The jar of pickles he pulled out hopefully had gone bad, so he left it on the counter and continued searching. He supposed it was really about time at least one of them got a life outside of each other. Maybe Nick's comments the other day about never dating had gotten through to the younger man? He thought that might be the case.

Nick smiled when his hand closed around a tub of icing. He stared at it for a minute before making a snap decision. He shut the fridge, grabbed a spoon, and headed over to the living room. The couch was comfortable and inviting, a lovely place to sit and eat pure sugar while he watched pure nonsense. Greg might be starting to rub off on him too much, but Nick found that he didn't mind. After his 'dinner', he went straight to sleep, too tired to even sit up straight.

Hours later, Nick bolted straight up in his bed when he heard a crash. On instinct, he grabbed his gun and got up, sneaking across the floor and inching his door open. He relaxed though, and fought back a smile, when he looked down upon Greg. The blonde lay on the floor, where he'd tripped and fallen only moments ago. He was staring sideways at the wall and speaking sternly.

"Now, now, Wally, you have to be quiet or you'll wake up Nick!" he was saying. Nick didn't resist the laugh in his throat, and it made Greg's head swivel to look up. His eyes were fogged and bleary, and the stench of whiskey drifted up to Nick's nostrils. Obviously the younger man was drunk out of his brains, but he smiled brightly anyway and threw his hands out wide.

"Nicky, help a guy up? But be quiet, I don't want to wake you." His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper that made Nick chuckle again. He clasped both of Greg's hands in his own to pull him up, noticing the crinkle of foil from Greg's left hand. When they were both standing on their feet, Greg's hands dropped away, and Nick caught sight of a brightly colored condom. He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Got a date, Greggo?" he asked slyly, glad the man had taken his advice. Before Greg could answer a figure appeared in the doorway to his bedroom and came forward to wrap their arms around Greg from behind. Nick felt his jaw drop. It was a man.

"You coming to bed?" the stranger asked in a low, husky voice. Greg grinned goofily at him, allowing himself to be walked backwards very slowly. He blinked up at Nick and smiled again, his sentences breaking apart when the man wrapped around him started nibbling on his neck.

"You said I could bring – mm – a date home. I know you were – ohh – expecting a girl but – that tickles – I mean that would be – got to go!" the pair of men disappeared in to Greg's bedroom and the door softly clicked shut behind them, leaving a flabbergasted Nick to stand in the hallway and stare at the spot they had been a moment before. He heard Greg moan, and then nothing. But his imagination provided the sound of tearing foil and skin rasping against skin, and he found he couldn't sleep.

The next half hour was torture, sitting at his kitchen table and playing with Greg's apparently hypocritical deck of lady cards. He played all different kinds of solitaire, but couldn't remember a single game. The only thing running through his head was Greg. Greg was gay. He'd gone out drinking and brought a _man_ home to have a one-night stand with. He'd been gay the whole time. Nick replayed the hallway over and over in his head, trying to make some sense of it. There really was no sense to be found.

Another crash got his immediate attention. Were they getting rough in there? Nick's stomach turned, but not in disgust. He had no time to analyze the fleeting feeling, because he could see Greg wearing only boxers marching the stranger towards the door by the scruff of his neck like a suspect, shoving his clothes in to his hands. He pushed the man forward a little, making him stumble.

"My name's not Anthony," he said firmly, pointing the guy towards the door. The strange man leaned against the wall to hurriedly pull on his dark jeans.

"Yeah, my name's not Nick," he countered. Nick, still sitting unseen in the kitchen, blinked. He had a perfect vantage point to watch from. He saw Greg cross his arms and tilt his head thoughtfully.

"Call it even?" his roommate suggested. The stranger was pulling on his t-shirt.

"Call you tomorrow?" he countered again. Greg let out a short bark of laughter.

"Not even a chance," he said.

"Fair deal," the strange man said. And then he was gone, and Greg shut the door behind him with no sign of remorse. It was evident that he was still drunk though; he only made it as far as the couch before he collapsed, face down. Nick rose from his seat and peeked in to the living room to see his friend relaxing in to the cushions. A muffled ironic laugh emitted from the spot his face was pressed in to.

"And Nick wonders why I don't bring dates home," he said. Then moments later he was snoring, as he only did after getting drunk. Nick stared at him in amazement. The undeniable fact that Greg was gay was still very fresh in his mind, and it overpowered the conversation by the door, since there was no space for it in his head. He made himself fetch a blanket and lay it on top of his friend, turning his blonde head so he wouldn't suffocate. Then he settled in to the armchair and watched over his friend, his thoughts not slowing in the slightest. They continued at light speed for the rest of the day.

Greg moaned as he came to. He'd never been one to suffer massive hangovers, something he was very thankful for, but his entire body hurt. The last thing he remembered was jumping in to the center of a violent mosh pit and enthusiastically joining in. His fogged thoughts had decided that maybe banging his head around and jumping against other people so hard there would be bruises might help take his mind off his problems. A blurry face swam up in front of him and he moaned again. Had he brought someone home?

He shifted a bit to discover that he was on the couch. This wasn't new, but definitely odd. Usually he could make it to a bed on adrenaline at least. That thought was pushed aside in favor of wincing in pain. Damn it, his ribs hurt. One of the guys in the pit had thought it very cool to wear a metal plated shirt. It had looked nifty enough, if you were in to that, but it had hurt like a bitch to get thrown in to. Without giving it a thought, Greg sat up and tore off his horrible smelling shirt.

A gasp from across the room had him looking up and blinking blearily at Nick, who was curled up in the armchair across from him. He was staring at Greg's chest, so the blonde looked down at well. His entire front was laced with dark bruises, as well as a pretty nice gash down one side where he'd hit the metal plates the wrong way. He ran a hand tentatively over his own chest and pushed gently. It made him wince and he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out, but it told him no ribs were broken.

"Greg…what the hell happened to you?" Nick asked. He looked up to see his friend's concerned face and tried to smile.

"Hn, mosh pit," he mumbled, hauling himself to his feet, intent on searching for coffee. The pot had already been turned on, and was just finishing preparing his special magic brew. He smiled as the dark liquid filled his cup, breathing the scent in deeply. It woke him up more, and he smiled even wider.

Nick appeared in the kitchen behind him, Greg could feel the man standing there. It seemed like he always knew where Nick was. He could wake in the dead of night and point without thinking to where Nick was in a room. That thought sometimes made him a little uneasy, but in times like this it was useful. He turned slowly as he sipped his magic drink. The Texan looked like he had something to say, but wasn't sure how to word it, so he waited patiently. The cup was half empty by the time he worked up the courage.

"Are you…gay or bi?" he asked finally. Greg froze, cup halfway to his mouth, lips slightly parted. He'd been looking away, staring at a spot on the floor, but now his gaze flew over to lock on to Nick's. He couldn't tear himself away. Oh god, oh god, he kept thinking, this is where it all falls apart. He was a fool for going to that club last night, and he'd known nothing good would come of it. What he hadn't expected was to Nick to find this out. Actually, he'd never meant for him to find out. Ever.

Greg found himself trying to find some excuse, as if he could explain away his sexuality and it would all be ok again. He fumbled along, and it was becoming more and more obvious. He was just gay. There were no women involved in his equation. Finally he brought himself to a stuttering halt, taking in a shaky breath, and looking down at the cup he held in his hands, his whole body screaming dejection.

"I should leave, huh?" he whispered. Nick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I don't have a problem with it or anything," he hurried assured his friend. "I just – well I didn't expect it, you know?" Greg looked up, his eyes sad but hopeful, and Nick stepped over to pull him in to a hug. "You're still the same guy, G. I'm just not inclined to believe any of your date stories anymore." Nick beamed when he was rewarded with an impish grin.

"Oh they're all true…just replace 'lady friend' with 'mighty fine male specimen'," the blonde replied cheekily. Nick laughed out loud and dragged them both back to the couch to try and outshoot each other on the Xbox. He was aware of the relief coming off his friend in waves, but chose to not say a thing. He could sense that no comment was needed. Greg was safe here in a home with no judgments. Nick wasn't even mad that Greg hadn't told him, because he could definitely see why he would be afraid to do so. Vegas was the place where anything goes, and yet homosexuality was still a taboo.

Glancing to the side, he could tell that the blonde was still a little nervous about being treated different, so Nick devoted the day to making sure that nothing in their house changed. They were still a little too close, because he knew it meant nothing. And when he had a nightmare about his glass coffin that night, he didn't hesitate to cross the hall and curl up next to Greg, because if they'd been doing it for five years, there was no reason to stop now. Just before he fell asleep, he could hear Greg whispering his thanks, but he pretended to be asleep, like he knew Greg thought he was.

Nick woke with an alarm in his ears and a warm body in his arms, and he smiled before opening his eyes, throwing one hand one to hit the clock. His face was pressed against the back of a neck, which was obscured by blonde hair. When the hair tickled his nose he snuffled and leaned his head back, taking in Greg's form in front of him. The blonde was still asleep, lying on one side with his back pressed to Nick's chest. His lips were slightly parted, indicating he had been talking in his sleep again. They both did that. Nick smiled and nuzzled in to the neck he was facing, hoping it would wake him. Greg mumbled and rolled to face him, not even fazed. Time for the big tactics.

Nick lifted the sheets away from them and very carefully peeled Greg's shirt up ever so slightly. Then with a loud whoop he started tickling his roommate mercilessly. Greg's eyes flew open immediately and he cried out, trying to squirm away from Nick's dancing fingers. But the older man had the upper hand, and he laughed manically, pinning Greg to the bed and continuing his torture. Greg thrashed and yelled at him, and when it eventually stopped he was panting for breath, trying to glare through his grin.

"Well that's one way to wake me up I guess," he muttered, trying to lay his head back down. Nick laughed and rolled him off the bed, listening for the thump as his body hit the floor. Greg gave an indignant squawk and sat up to really glare this time.

"It's time for work, get that lazy butt of yours in to the shower!" Nick ordered. Greg stood up and fixed his shirt so it was no longer crumpled halfway up his torso. Then he turned and stuck his bottom in to the air, wiggling it.

"It's such a pretty butt, no?" he got his answer in the form of a pillow hitting him in the ass. He laughed and headed towards the bathroom, leaving Nick to stretch in a bed that was as familiar as his own and hum to himself. When Greg was done in the shower, Nick took his turn, and when he was done Greg had poured them both bowls of cereal. After that quick feeding they gathered their kits keys and wallets, and were heading to the LVPD crime lab in Nick's pickup.

As he drove, Nick looked over at his best friend, who had his eyes closed to the gentle rocking motion of the vehicle. Nine years they had been friends, and Greg had known he was gay the whole time. But try though he might – and he didn't even try very hard – Nick couldn't see him as any different. In a way, it was almost as if the back of his brain had known it all along. He smiled and turned back to the road, at peace with the world for just a few more moments.


	3. Chapter 3

Things fell back in to normal patterns for the next month. Greg's horrid bruises from his drunken mosh pit escapade took a week to begin fading, and they were just now almost gone. He refused to admit that they caused him pain, but his friends could see him wince every time he had to bend over. When they asked what was wrong and he showed them, Grissom had dropped a pile of papers and Catherine was off on a rant about reporting attacks before he could explain himself.

It was, all in all, very funny when he told her what really happened. She'd hit him – right on a large black patch of skin. He'd howled in pain and hopped away from her, making her flush red and apologize over and over. She was forgiven quickly enough, but he starting sitting as far from her as he could.

No more fights happened between Warrick and Greg, and Nick all but forgot about the two incidents that seemed to have sparked the crazy patch in their lives. The lab continued to solve crimes and bring absolution to distraught families. The staff continued to grumble about it. Warrick visited the guys' apartment a couple more times, seemingly to get used to the idea of them living together. Nick didn't mention a thing about Greg's sexuality.

By the time Greg's bruises were at last completely faded, five weeks after the club, winter was beginning to creep up. The switch in seasons was never very noticeable beyond the slight drop in temperature, because they didn't usually get much snow. The thing that marked the change for Nick was the increase in times a week he and Greg slept together for warmth. Nick liked winter. It was a friendly and comfortable season.

November began with a small birthday party for Mandy, and progressed in normal steps. Nick popped his head in to the print lab on his way by to wink at the birthday girl again, then popped back out and continued on his way to the break room. Greg was napping on the couch, his head in Sara's lap. Nick raised an eyebrow at Sara and she blushed but didn't explain the position. Catherine and Warrick were playing tic-tac-toe and Grissom was pouring himself a cup of coffee. The Texan smiled at those who looked up when he entered and sidled up next to his supervisor, wiggling his own cup.

When his cup had been filled he took it over and waved it under Greg's nose. Shift was over in five minutes, and Nick was not willing to carry the man to the car. Greg moaned when he caught the scent and shifted in Sara's lap, facing upwards instead of away. She smiled down at him as he stretched broadly, giving off an involuntary mewling noise. Nick watched her card her fingers in to his blonde hair and for some reason he found that he wanted her to stop.

"You are so cute I could just kiss you!" Sara declared jokingly, blushing a bit at her own words. Greg continued to stretch, nuzzling in to her legs a bit more.

"Wouldn't do a thing for me, darlin'," he mumbled, still half in nap mode. She looked down at him quizzically and Nick smirked from across the room. Warrick burst out laughing and slapped at the table he was seated at, holding himself up on his chair.

"Oh G, you didn't!" he wheezed out between laughing. "You didn't just…" he cut himself off, still laughing. Greg sifting his eyes over to the dark man without turning his head and grinned.

"Give them the first hint? Oh I totally did!" he laughingly replied. The two of them continued to laugh while everyone else in the room blinked and looked between them in confusion. Catherine, being across from Warrick, was eyeing him like she feared for his sanity or her safety. Or maybe both. Sara watched Greg as he sat up slowly. Grissom and Nick looked at each other and shrugged, sure that the matter would be cleared up soon. Suddenly Warrick sobered.

"Wait Greg, what about Nick?" he asked. Then he clapped a hand over his mouth like he hadn't meant to say that out loud. Nick looked up, interest growing when he heard his own name. Warrick avoided his eyes, but Greg only laughed harder. He reached out and snagged the coffee cup from the Texan's hands and smiled brilliantly over its rim. Nick turned and poured a new one for himself.

"Oh Nick already knows," he said, taking a sip. Warrick's eyes went wider and he and Greg had a silent conversation with just their faces, a conversation that not even Grissom could read. Nick cleared his throat and the two face talkers turned to look at him at the same time.

"Uh, what do I already know?" he asked. It should have been obvious but he was tired after a long day and he really didn't expect Greg to be so blunt about it. So it was that he actually choked and sprayed his coffee on to his roommate when he opened his mouth and said with no hint of embarrassment,

"That I'm gay." He flinched as warm liquid sprayed over him, but instead of crying out, he roared with laughter. He was only spurred on when the two girls shrieked in surprise and Grissom almost dropped his drink. All three of them began to make exclamations of shock and ask the traditional all-you-sure questions. He always found those hilarious. It took ten minutes for them to stop chattering and realize that they weren't giving him time to answer. They calmed, and it was Catherine who took the floor, asking the usual questions.

He told them he had always known, and told them he hadn't told them because he was afraid of their reactions. He didn't want to be treated different, and he didn't want prejudice to bar his way through life. They understood that. Greg smiled as they all hurried to make sure he knew they supported him and would look at him the same as they always had. Through it all, Warrick sat with a warm knowing smile on his face. It eventually caught Nick's eye and it reminded him how he'd reacted with no surprise. Nick felt his jaw drop.

"You knew?" he exclaimed incredulously, and all eyes turned to Warrick. He kept smiling and gave a small shrug, catching Greg's eye and winking with great camaraderie. Nick huffed and crossed his arms. "How come you knew and I didn't?" he asked. Greg coughed in to his hand and flushed a bit. Warrick knew why, and he was ok with it, but it still wasn't very nice.

"I told Warrick because back then I wasn't as close to him, so if he hated me for it, it would hurt the least, you know?" Greg looked down at his hands, then back up at Warrick, and they shared a smile. Nick just shook his head, and Greg knew that he was hurt that Greg didn't trust him with his secret. But there was nothing that could be done now, so he settled for an apologetic look and dropping it.

"So how did you find out Nick?" Warrick asked suddenly. "I mean…Greg went to all this trouble to hide it from everyone, I can't imagine him telling you." Greg winced at the bluntness of those words and shook his head. He would have to apologize to his friend later and do a bit of damage control. Then he was surprised when Nick laughed in response. He assumed a sly look and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Greggo brought home a date," he divulged. Greg swallowed hard.

"I _what_?!" he exclaimed. When he'd woken up on the couch he'd assumed that no one had come home with him. Although he had never thought to ask how Nick had known he was gay if all he'd done was come home, fall over, and pass out. He had figured that maybe he'd gone on some insane ramble or something. But bringing home a date? That might just be the most horrible thing he'd heard of himself doing in his life!

Nick snickered as he told them the story of how he'd discovered Greg in the hallway trying to warn the wall in to silence. They roared with laughter as he described his reaction when a man had come sauntering out of Greg's bedroom, and Greg hung his head in his hands with an embarrassed groan as his backwards march was told in colorful detail, complete with Nick's imitation of his drunken words. He didn't remember any of this, but that might have been because of his consumption of more than eleven shots of whiskey close together.

When they were all almost crying with glee, Nick took pity on his buddy and declared it home time, since the shift had officially ended about ten minutes ago. He waved Greg up and called goodbyes over the raucous laughter. Greg dipped his head and hurried over, but Nick slung an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in close.

"You have to admit G, it was pretty funny," he declared. Greg mumbled something and Nick knew that he was forgiven. He drove them home and when they got there he helped Greg to cook dinner. It turned in to a small food fight, and the clean up took as much time as the actual cooking. Afterwards they collapsed together on the couch. Nick grabbed the controller and switched on some sort of documentary.

Unwilling to watch that kind of show, Greg rummaged around through the drawer in the table beside the couch. He came up with a thick book and smiled, clicking on the lamp and turning sideways. Happily ensconced in the corner with his back against the arm of the couch, he stretched out his legs and boldly dropped his feet in Nick's lap, startling the older man. Nick looked up and his eyes widened and he grinned when he saw the book that Greg was holding.

"Where did you get that?" he asked in awe. Greg lowered it to peek over top of the pages like Kilroy. He said something about his mother sending it to him and Nick bounced in his seat a little. "Shove up, I want to read it with you!" he declared. Suddenly Greg found himself with an armful of Texan as Nick ducked under his arms and leaned his head on Greg's chest. It was the perfect spot, being at eyelevel with the book but under Greg's line of vision. Greg hoped that Nick didn't hear his heart beat faster.

For the next couple of hours they sat in the same semi-intimate pose, reading at almost exactly the same speed. Nick was the designated page-turner; since he was the slower reader he just flipped it as soon as he finished. The documentary continued to squawk in the background but was ignored. Somewhere along the line Greg heard the call of nature, but he ignored that too in favor of not ruining the moment.

What couldn't be ignored was when someone suddenly knocked on the door. They yelled that the door was open in unison and continued reading. They were in the middle of a battle description and didn't want to look away from the text. The door opened and there came the sound of a coat being pulled off and dropped on the floor. Footsteps sounded but stopped after only a couple as whoever it was spotted them there on the couch.

"That's so cute I think I'm going to bring up my dinner," a voice said with heavy sarcasm. Both the boys turned their heads to see Warrick standing there with his hands in his pockets and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Nick couldn't see behind him, or he would have caught the murderous glare that Greg was sporting. As it was, he just shrugged and leaned further back in to him.

"Hey man, what do you need?" he asked nonchalantly. If his tall friend wanted to tease them about this then he was fine with it. Warrick knew it meant nothing, and so did everyone else. He was saved from the teasing though. His question made the African-American man's face drop and he shuffled, kicking his toe in to the carpet. He cleared his throat a couple times and grinned lopsidedly.

"I need your help with Catherine…" he said slowly. Nick laughed and he could feel chuckles reverberating around the chest below him. It was their turn to tease. They listened to Warrick talk about his crush on Catherine and tried to offer their best advice on it. He wasn't sure whether or not to try and tell her, and Nick missed the meaningful look he sent Greg when he was saying that. In the middle of the pseudo-therapy session Nick had to go to the bathroom. He hauled himself off the couch and hurried away for relief. As he came back up the hall, he could hear the other two still chatting.

"Never thought I'd see the day when _you_ come to _me_ for love advice," Greg was saying with a snicker. Nick could hear Warrick give a short barking, almost mocking laugh.

"Yeah," came the agreement. "It's usually the other way around huh?" His words had a sardonic tone to them. Greg's sigh drifted in to the hall, exasperated.

"I will kill you," the younger man warned.

"Oh come on Greg."

"Can we not do this today?"

"One of these days we're going to have to."

"But not today."

"You can't hold this in forever."

"I can and I will."

"This isn't ok, what I saw when I-"

"Could you drop it please?"

Nick decided that he'd better make his reentrance now, before they started fighting. He burned to know what the hell they were talking about, but obviously he wasn't meant to know. That stung. He had thought that Greg and he had no secrets from each other, and these fights with Warrick were digging up something big that he wasn't privy to. When he walked in to the room, he noticed the split second glares before easy smiles dropped back in to place and they began chatting once more about Warrick's problem.

The evening came to an end not too long later. Nick told Warrick that he should just go for it if he thought it would make him happy, but he didn't see Greg wince. When their coworker left, the two boys headed to bed. Nick tossed and turned restlessly, unable to get the short conversation he had overheard out of his head. The meaning escaped him, despite his best attempts to garner any sense from it. Despite really wanting to know, he knew he wouldn't ask if it was a private matter. But he could tell that something was hurting Greg, and more than anything Nick felt an urge to help. To make it better.

For the first time that he could remember, Nick resisted walking across the hall. He knew that he might end up waking Greg and demanding an answer, and that might not turn out for the best. So he lay in the darkness alone, slightly cold, and trying to ignore the odd empty feeling his arms had, like they should be holding something. Or someone. Nick closed his eyes and tried very hard to ignore the ache in his chest as he tried to fall asleep faster.

The next day Greg was walking by the break room and happened to look in. A very nervous Warrick was talking to a surprised Catherine. He couldn't hear the words that were exchanged, but he could make a very well educated guess. The smile that spread across Catherine's face was epic, and what she said next made Warrick look surprised and relieved all at the same time. Then they hugged, and Greg's heart ached. He was happy for them, really he was. He repeated that to himself as he made his way out of the building towards the Jetta, barely paying attention to anything around him.

How come Warrick got a happy ending and he didn't? He sighed heavily, but plastered on a great big smile as Sara slid in next to him and gave him directions to their scene. He took off without a word, listening to her go on about something funny that happened at Mandy's party. That led her off in to an excited rant about doing something for Grissom's birthday, which was in early December. Something about him never suspecting a surprise party when they were already planning a Christmas party. Greg smiled as he listened to her, wishing his mind was as uncomplicated.

By the time they arrived at the scene, Greg found himself pulled in to helping plan this surprise party for his supervisor, and agreeing that Sara's place was the perfect location. All the way through lifting fingerprints and swabbing blood pools, they discussing whether or not to have balloons, which color of streamers would be better, and what his favorite kind of cake might be. It felt amazing to let his mind drift in to something revolving around someone else for a change.

On the drive back, Sara phoned the others so that there was no chance of Grissom overhearing them whispering in the lab. Once they returned the entire thing was set and ready to go, and Greg was amazed that it took so little time to plan everything. He was smiling as he drove Nick home, and smiling when he said he'd be back later, heading over to Sara's to help her order party supplies.

Two weeks later, a week before the surprise party, a high profile case called them all out to the field together to investigate the death of a member of parliament. Greg was searching one of the upper bedrooms with his camera when he stumbled upon a safe room, complete with a small fridge and a pile of blankets.

"Oh man this is cool. You guys have to come see this!" he called out to the others. They trickled in one by one, giving off appreciative whistles. The walls were cement with designs embedded in tiles. A security monitor was embedded in one wall so you could see who was in the house in every room at all times. There was even a small little cupboard that, when they opened it, revealed a toilet. Apparently this room was meant to house more than one person.

"This guy really had trust issues didn't he?" Sara observed casually, taking pictures of the food packets in the fridge.

"Well as it turns out, he had reasons," Grissom retorted calmly. Sara grinned up at him. They all continued to examine the things in the room, cameras flashing like the Fourth of July fireworks. When they heard one of the duty officers calling, Catherine turned to call back and stumbled over her own feet. As she fell, she thrust out a hand to catch herself, landing against one of the tiles surrounding the doorframe. It sank in to the wall. The high-pitched squeal of a tripped alarm pierced the air throughout the house and they all whipped around in time to watch a gate slam down in the exit, and a metal door start to slide across it.

Everyone cried out and leapt for the door, screaming for help. But the safe room had been accidentally activated, and there was nothing the officer who came running could do. He stared through the bars of the gate and watched them slowly disappear, yelling that he would try and break in to them as soon as possible. Then the metal door slid home and they were plunged in to darkness, listening to their own harsh, stunned breathing. Suddenly Gil's voice came out of the darkness.

"Catherine you're fired," he muttered jokingly. It broke the tension and everyone chuckled a bit. As they were laughing, an automated light flickered on and they could see again. The situation was familiar for some, but not as dire when surrounded by friends. They all settled against the walls, there being no chairs or beds, and prepared themselves for hours of waiting. Specialists would need to be brought in to crack the security system and find a way in. Simply breaking down the door was neither physically possible, nor legally allowed, since this was still a crime scene.

After hours and hours of waiting, it became clear that they would have to sleep in here. Reluctant as they were to mess any part of their crime scene, they had to use the pile of blankets. Catherine and Warrick huddled next to each other beside the fridge on one wall. Sara and Grissom sat close but not too close against the wall that held the security screen. Greg and Nick were leaning against each other on the empty wall. Nick seemed to be the only one falling asleep, though no one was talking anymore. Apparently the Texan was very tired. After a half hour's silence, out of nowhere he tapped Greg's foot with his own. Greg looked over but he hadn't opened his eyes when he moved.

"Greg…sing me the lullaby," he murmured. "The one you wrote for me." He seemed to be so sleepy that he'd forgotten that they were not alone. Greg blushed deeper than he ever had in his life as the rest of the team raised their eyebrows and he cast about for an excuse not to.

"Right now?" he whispered back when he found no reason to refuse. Nick nodded sleepily against his shoulder and he sighed. "Alright, come here." He said those words out of reflex, and never realized their implication until Nick was actually moving. Without even opening his eyes he shimmied down and leaned back in to Greg's chest. Greg was blushing harder as he wrapped an arm around Nick, his dark haired head cradled in the crook of his shoulder. Then he stroked his free hand through that dark hair, smiled a bit, and began to sing softly._  
_

_Lay down your head little Nicky  
Rest in your bed darling dear  
Memories cling to everything  
But always remember I'm here  
Close your sweet eyes little Nicky  
Let go your fears from your mind  
Nightmares will come I don't know where from  
But comfort in my arms you'll find  
Lay down your head little Nicky  
I'll hold you safe to my heart  
Never you fear, 'cause Greggo is near  
And nothing can tear us apart_

His voice wasn't very good, but it was gentle and soothing, and it was just for Nick. He sang the song through twice before he felt the man in his arms relax and fall fast asleep. Greg took a few extra moments to smile fondly at him before braving a look up. Catherine had a hand over her mouth and her eyes were misty as she leaned further in to Warrick, who had a knowing look on his face. Sara had buried her face in to Grissom's shoulder, and the boss wore a stunned expression. Greg awaited their comments, expected derision and teasing to end all teasing. Finally Catherine sat up and sniffed, dabbing at the corner of her eyes with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Oh my goodness Greg. That was beautiful!" she cried, her eyes misting all over again. Greg shifted a bit, trying not to wake his friend. Warrick asked why he had written Nick a lullaby and he smiled.

"He had a nightmare once that kept him up for days," he explained, still weaving his hand through Nick's hair unconsciously. "He told me that his mom used to sing him to sleep, but I didn't know any lullabies. So I made one up off the top of my head and it put him right to sleep. Sometimes he makes me sing it because it makes him feel good, like an innocent little boy again. I can never say no. Although, usually I don't have an audience!" He found the will to smile at them and Sara raised her head out of Gil's shoulder, sniffing. Gil reached in to his pocket and produced a few folded up tissues, which she took gratefully.

"You…you love him…don't you?" she asked once she could speak, her eyes boring in to his. Greg stared back at her silently. He could see Warrick leaning in, awaiting his answer, and he knew that the dark skinned man already knew what his answer was. How many times had they gone over this? He sighed and blinked, making sure his gaze was steady and his voice was strong before he answered.

"Yes," he replied simply. He'd meant to say more, but as soon as his mouth opened, that was really all that needed to be said. Sara nodded and Warrick let go of a deep breath, giving him those pitying eyes that said 'I know the pain you feel'. But Warrick didn't know. He had voiced his love, and received the same in kind. Greg knew that his love was doomed to be one-sided. Sometimes it sucked to be gay, but he wouldn't change who he was for the world.

When he raised his face again, he was bewildered to see that all four of his coworkers had tears in their eyes, Catherine's streaming down her cheeks silently, and Sara doing her very best to hold hers back this time. Even plain sensible Grissom and tough guy Warrick were sporting glazed and wet eyes. Greg tilted his head to the side, silently questioning them. Catherine took her hand from her mouth, where it once again rested in her attempt not to start bawling out loud.

"It's the bittersweet beauty of it," she whispered. "Silent unrequited love. You should be a movie!" She turned all of a sudden and buried her face in Warrick's chest, half crying and half laughing. Greg smiled at her gently and watched gratefully as the rest of them let laughter chase the tears away. It hurt enough to have these feelings, having them cry over him just wasn't helping. He tightened his arm and looked down at Nick, tracing the contours of his sleeping face. It was something he never let himself do; he tried to resist his impulses, treating a sleeping Nick like he would an awake Nick. But the sob-fest that his lullaby had sparked built up his emotions to the point where he couldn't deny them.

So just for this once he let his love show on his face, and just this once he ran his fingers along that perfect face, mapping it, memorizing the feel of it. Nick would never know, and it was better that way. When his urge was placated and he felt he could control himself again, Greg closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, hoping for sleep to come and claim him. It didn't.

He opened his eyes eventually and saw that Gil was still awake as well, staring off at nothing. He caught the older man's eye and pulled a face, making Gil smile. In a very uncharacteristic move, he made a funny face back, and Greg had to fight down the laughter that bubbled up inside of him.

"You had to do that when they're asleep!" he whined. "They'll never believe me that it happened!" The supervisor looked fairly pleased with himself and Greg chuckled very quietly. When they both sobered, Grissom assumed a serious face.

"How long have you felt like this?" he asked. Greg eyed him and his lips twisted wryly.

"About five years," he admitted. "After the first couple times he crawled in to my bed for comfort." It had been a gradual thing, one he tried to fight back. Nick had always been attractive, that fact had been undeniable. But after a few times of holding the man while he slept, or being held by those strong arms, and he hadn't been able to fight the fact that it felt so right. They fit together like puzzle pieces, but they belonged to different puzzles. Grissom gave him a sympathetic look.

"Well it's never affected your work. And you hid it very well." His compliments were a bit empty, but they seemed to have an underlying meaning that Greg was too tired to try and discern. So he just nodded and thanked him. He looked across from him at the man who he had first come out to and the woman he'd finally snagged. They were at complete peace with the world, wrapped in separate blankets but wrapped around each other. Catherine had a small smile on her lips as she slept, and Greg was at once envious and happy for her. She deserved some happiness after Eddie. And Warrick deserved happiness after Tina.

But didn't he deserve happiness as well? Even Sara and Grissom had found each other, even if they tried to hide it. Greg considered this and came to a conclusion. The one who really deserved happiness was Nick. He came from a huge family, surrounded by sisters who had found husbands long ago. He had looked death in the face more than once through gun barrels and Plexiglas walls. Greg decided that if his silence would lead the way for Nick to be happy, he'd be glad to suffer on the sidelines for the rest of his life.

When the police finally freed them in the middle of the day, they found six sleeping figures, all coupled up and leaning against the walls. Two of the couples were happy and content, lying in each other's arms. But right in front of the door laid two men. One looked as if there were no safer place than the arms that held him. And the other looked only determined, if a little sad.

* * *

AN: I wrote that lullaby for this fic. :) Pretty, no?


	4. Chapter 4

There was no time for time off after the team was rescued. They were all deemed fit to work right away, since they'd been found asleep, so they were fed and put right back on duty. Since they were set to work in the middle of the day, by the end of their real shift every one of them was sagging with exhaustion. They stumbled in to the break room in the lab and flopped on to the couch and chairs. Greg was the only one with enough energy to haul himself to the coffee machine.

His special Blue Hawaiian was rummaged out of it's hiding place when he was sure no one was looking, and just the scent seemed to give a bit of life back to the group. After a cup each, they all felt well enough to drive home – but just barely. Nick slumped in the passenger seat of the Jetta as Greg maneuvered them through the early morning traffic. He fell asleep there and Greg had to carry him inside to bed. The old woman next door observed them with a quiet smile, not calling out because she knew he couldn't wave.

Nick was set very gently in his own bed and, after a moment's hesitation, Greg left and lay down in his own bed. Maybe Warrick was right and this was too hard on him. But no matter how hard it was he knew he couldn't leave. So he rolled over and fiddled with his radio, setting it to a very low volume, just loud enough to put him to sleep.

The rest of the week was fairly normal, if a little tired. But they were all caught up on their sleep by the time Saturday came, and they all gathered at Sara's rather large apartment. Greg had come over an hour before everyone else and helped to decorate. Sara had some reservations about that, but after it was done she grudgingly admitted that he had good decorating taste. Then she told him that his gay was showing and he roared with laughter, flouncing off towards the food with a quirky little swing in his hips.

They were just finished organizing the food on a big long buffet table when Catherine arrived with Lindsey and a preteen friend. Archie and Bobby showed up next, followed by Warrick. Nick came then, complimenting Sara on the tasteful decoration. She gave Greg a wink, then ran for the door to let Wendy inside. Once the entire night shift staff had gathered, there was ten minutes until their intended 'victim' was supposed to arrive, so they all found places to sit and Sara turned out the light. The idea was that when Grissom turned on the light they'd all be sitting there nonchalantly, with no need to jump out and scare him. He was, after all, a high-strung crime fighter. He might pull a gun.

Greg had sat down on one end of Sara's bright red couch when the lights flipped off. Someone in front of him gave a cry of protest and fell backwards, half on him, and half on Hodges who was sitting beside him. They made 'oomph' noises, eliciting snickers from everyone else in the room. Greg inhaled a familiar scent, and spoke without thinking.

"God Nick, you're getting fat! Lay off my icing!" his voice was unexpectedly loud in the quiet room, and all the hidden people burst in to laughter. Nick made some sort of indignant noise and slid off the two people he'd fallen on, finding a seat on the floor between Greg's legs. A few dirty comments came out of the darkness, and Greg tried to resist thinking of where Nick was sitting.

Then there was a knock from outside and, according to the plan, Sara called for Grissom to let himself in. The door opened and a figure stood framed by the mild light before it closed again and Grissom's voice called out, "Sara?" Greg was sure he wasn't the only one covering his mouth trying not to laugh as Sara, who had hidden in the kitchen, yelled through the house for him to just make himself at home.

"Where's your light switch?" he called back. Her voice drifted in, saying somewhere close to his right. There were sounds of a hand groping along a wall, and then a triumphant 'aha' as the switch was found, as well as a click when it was flicked. Light flooded the room and Gil jumped a foot in the air as it revealed myriad smiling faces, including Sara sneaking in from the kitchen.

"Happy birthday!" They all shouted once he was back on the ground, surging up to their feet to go surround him. He grinned in happy shock that they did this for him. Sara fought her way through the mass of bodies and hugged him, telling him it was all her and Greg. Grissom turned to thank his level 1 and found him nowhere in sight. Not worried, he shrugged it off and figured he'd get around to it later.

It took a little while, but Nick noticed that Greg was still missing. He frowned, searching both the busy kitchen and the crowded living room. It was really odd because normally Greg was the one who tried to always be center of attention, so sitting off in a dark corner somewhere meant something must be wrong. Nick was almost starting to worry for real when he finally ran in to his wacky friend in the hallway that led to the rest of the apartment.

"Greggo, where you been?" he asked, relief in his voice. Greg stopped and blinked, not having expected him to be there. He opened his mouth and shut it once like a fish before actually coming up with a mostly true answer.

"In the bathroom," he said. Nick looked at his watch and grinned dirtily.

"For fifteen minutes? My my, what were we doing in the bathroom for fifteen minutes?" he chuckled and Greg's head almost imploded at the idea of both of them alone in a bathroom. He gave an embarrassed grin and tried to say nothing but Nick insisted. His face heated, knowing the answer he had to give was way too girly. But at least it wasn't a lie; he didn't want to lie. Not to a CSI.

"I…I messed up my hair," he said finally. "Sara's got _no_ hair stuff." He crossed his arms and scrunched his nose; acting completely serious that this was the whole reason he'd escaped from a good time in favor of hanging out in a bathroom. Nick looked at him incredulously, and then burst out laughing at how ridiculous that was. He poked gentle fun at the younger man as they made their way to the kitchen. Then Greg escaped and showed up right in front of Warrick with pleading eyes, challenging him to a drinking game. Warrick knew that look, so he took pity and accepted right away.

The only trouble was that as soon as Greg's request was voiced, it was overheard. Half the people in the party wanted to play. His original idea was a two-person game, so he quickly changed the game to Big Fish Little Fish, grabbing himself a bottle of he-didn't-really-care. It had heavy alcohol content, which was all he cared about. He took careful note of Nick, standing against the wall and chatting to Bobby Dawson, and sat on the floor as far away as he could, wedged between Warrick and Mandy.

The game got underway quickly, and it was the type of game in which people failed very often. That meant drinking, lots and fast. Greg purposefully screwed up many times just to take a much needed drink, ignoring Warrick's elbow jabs and warnings to slow down. He just smiled and took deeper swigs from his bottle, which he now identified as rum. Usually not a drink he would have straight, but he was in the mood tonight.

Across the room, Greg remained oblivious of Nick's watchful eye, even as he himself soon found himself deep in the cups. Nick's conversation with Bobby about an obscure video game became more and more distracted as Bobby began ogling Archie and Nick began to pay more and more attention to his drunker and drunker roommate. He didn't realize he himself was drunk until he went to walk over to Greg and tripped on the carpet. Thankfully, someone nearby was sober enough to set him right again and he grinned his thanks, completely forgetting what his mission had been.

He tottered off to the kitchen to find another cooler. It was a girly drink, but it had a sugar component that reminded him nicely of Greg, and it was vodka, which he enjoyed. He knew that Catherine had brought them for herself, but his alcohol tolerance was so low that she barely noticed the few missing bottles. When Nick straightened from the fridge, Grissom appeared right next to him and he gave a happy shout.

"Gil!" he crowed. "The birthday boy! Did I give you a birthday hug?" Even as he said it he threw his arms around the older man, who patted him lightly on the back.

"Having fun Nicky?" Gil asked. Nick gave him a huge wink, managing to look a little like a crazy person, and tottered off again, making his way to an empty spot on the couch. As he hit the cushion he looked down and found he was sitting right behind Greg, who was still playing his odd drinking game. He watched them for a while until he heard them start shouting.

"That was a big fish you goon! Take a drink!" that sounded somewhat like Wendy, but it was slurred. Greg tried to protest, holding up his hands to show the fish he had made, but the circle of players overrode him, so he presented his bottle of Captain Morgan's and took a deep swig. Interested, Nick slipped off his newly acquired spot on the couch and shimmied up behind Greg.

Another round started while he was inching across the carpet, and just as he slid in behind Greg, surrounding the younger man with his legs and leaning his head over his lithe shoulder, it was his turn. He was so shocked to find Nick there that he couldn't respond to his turn, and as a result he had to drink again, sinking his mind farther in to nothing. Neither of them noticed Warrick slipping away, the flash of a camera, or his return. Greg struggled to focus on his fish game, and Nick tried to discern the rules by watching. It seemed hopeless for them both.

Hours later, the game had long since dispersed and half of the party had gone home. The remaining people were all planning on crashing here for the night. Most of them had already crashed somewhere. Nick had lost track of his best friend a while ago, and was now wandering about, searching through the slumped bodies for him. He ran in to Sara and Warrick, smiling goofily at them.

"Oh hello, have seen Greggo? Sometimes referred to as Mr. Cool?" he almost kept eye contact with them, but the shine off of something in the corner of his eye distracted him in the middle and he turned to look at it, ending up asking his question to a bare patch of wall.

"Mr. Cool? Who calls him that?" Sara asked, a laugh in her voice. Nick focused on her briefly enough to answer before swiveling his head to look around.

"Greg," he told her simply. Warrick made a quirky noise.

"Greg calls Greg Mr. Cool?" he clarified. Nick nodded enthusiastically and asked again if they knew where he had gone. Sara asked why he needed to know and he gave her a look as if the answer should have been very obvious.

"Cause I want to go to bed!" he declared petulantly. The other two looked at each other and both sets of eyebrows disappeared in to hairlines. Nick ignored them and turned back to searching the living room again. As they watched him questioning a half-asleep Archie Warrick crossed his arms and leaned over to speak quietly to her.

"Do you get the feeling that Nick's…kind of repressed?" he asked, hoping she would know what he meant. She did of course. Nick stressed the fact that he was straight, yet when they examined the behavior he exhibited towards his very male roommate there was cause for doubt. No straight man held another man the way he held Greg, or so readily sought his arms for comfort. They were all beginning to suspect that the man was simply in denial. Sara sighed and lifted her hands in a large shrug.

"It's funny, they would be perfect together, you know?" she said, receiving a nod of agreement. "And we already know how Greg feels. I think we need to do something about this." As they began to hatch a plan, Nick came back and asked a third time if they knew where his buddy was. He was pointed down the hallway, where Greg was having an animated conversation with a photo on the wall. Warrick and Sara looked at each other and he grinned maliciously.

"I have a feeling this ought to be good," the tall man declared, pulling out his camera. It was quickly flipped over to video mode and trained on Nick's staggering back, the beep as it began recording lost on the drunken pair. Nick stumbled closer to Greg and listened to him chatter aimlessly to no one about how Sara's portrait of them all cast him in a bad light and made him look fat. He snuck up behind him and put his arms around the younger man's middle, causing him to stop talking.

"Hey Nicky!" Greg greeted him in a high-pitched voice, pleasantly surprised to be held like this. Nick chuckled and leaned in next to his ear. Warrick and Sara frowned because he began whispering, and neither their ears nor the cameras speakers would be able to pick up what was said. Greg shuddered as hot breath puffed softly over his ear.

"You know I had this weird dream the other night…was kind of nice," Nick was saying. Greg barely managed to ask what it was; his knees were weak and his heart was fluttering at top speed. Nick was only too happy to tell him, his words slurred by drink. "There was you. And me. You were walking towards me all funny like then you just shoved me up against this wall."

He paused here and, though Greg knew what usually came next, he couldn't decide between the two possible scenarios in his head. He asked what happened next, his voice low and husky. Nick's warm breath was driving him wild and he wouldn't stop it for the world.

"You were all rough. And I liked it. Then you kissed me and it wasn't a single bit gentle. Do you want to kiss me Greggo?" Greg's eyes, which he didn't remember closing, flew open at this out of place invitation. He shouldn't. It was the worst idea he'd ever let take a hold in his head. But he couldn't resist it, not when Nick was so blatantly telling him it was ok. The drink fogging his brain was telling him that it was allowed just for tonight, and after that he couldn't stop himself.

Their two spectators, still recording them, gasped in shock when suddenly Greg whipped around in Nick's arms, threw him at the wall almost hard enough to crack the plaster, and clashed their lips together with deadly force. They could only stare as Nick responded, grabbing his face, pulling him closer by the hair. Their tongues entwined and danced feverishly as they both gave off sexy little manly grunts of approval. Greg's hands were planted on the wall on both sides of Nick's head, clawing at it as if he wanted to move them and didn't want to at the same time. It was when Nick tried to pull his hips closer that reality came crashing in to Greg's head, forcing him to fall away.

Nick stared after him, a keening noise rising in the back of his throat. His eyes were half lidded with pleasure and he half reached out to pull Greg back, but the younger man shook his head violently, trying to clear it. When that turned out to hurt he held his hands to his head.

"I can't. You…oh God you'd kill me…you don't want it Nicky…I just can't." Greg turned and stumbled away, his face stricken, and he disappeared in to one of the empty spare bedrooms. Warrick kept recording Nick, who leaned against the wall with a dazed and confused look on his face. He seemed flustered, as one should be after an amazing kiss. Then he closed his eyes and rubbed them with the backs on his hands, the idea of going to bed once more flooding his brain. He followed Greg in to the bedroom.

The camera dinged as it turned off and Warrick stared at it in disbelief, still not sure that its contents had really just happened. He and Sara looked at each other, silent for long moments. Then she suggested a walk and they turned as one, grabbing their coats and the still awake and sober Gil Grissom before they slipped out in to the night. Grissom asked what this was about, but they waited until they were halfway down the street before telling him.

"We need a plan," Sara stated bluntly after they had explained everything. The other two agreed and they began brain storming as they walked around her block. On the third round they had formulated a plan of action each, to be executed separately. Sara's was a little complicated, as it involved scoping out both boys' feelings in that subtle way that only a woman can. Grissom's role was to make sure that they were not to work together for a little while so that he could observe how being forced apart would affect them both. Warrick's plan was simplicity itself. Friday nights were now to be deemed Guy's Nights, in which he was going to show up with beer every week and watch the sparks fly.

Satisfied that these three things in tandem would reveal all they needed to know, they finally took the steps back in to Sara's building. Within a couple months they would know just how deep Greg's feelings ran, and they would know if there was any possibility of Nick returning those feelings. They were observers, and observing is what they intended to do. Grissom's offhand comment that it would be fun to observe something not dead for a change had them pausing outside Sara's door to let their laughter subside. Then they went in and found places to sleep, hardly able to wait for Monday, when the plans would be set in motion.

Monday came quickly, thankfully for the three lying in wait, and Greg and Nick arrived together like usual, today in Nick's truck. As they stepped inside the cool building, they were completely unaware that three pair of eyes followed them everywhere, cataloging their every movement, their every casual touch. They went to the lockers together, coming up to the break room not five minutes later in their work clothes. Grissom gave everyone their assignment, setting Nick with Warrick and Greg with Sara. Greg and Sara set off together in her car to investigate a DB found on the interstate. The whole way there she kept her conversation centered on Nick, just to watch his face and listen to the inflections in his voice.

As they processed the scene she delicately asked questions that seemed harmless enough to him, but to her revealed a whole world of insight in to his feelings. She already knew that Greg had feelings for Nick and that he called them love. What she needed to find out was if his terminology was correct. As he was lifting a substance off the victim's ankle, he suddenly looked up at Sara and narrowed his eyes.

"Why are we only talking about Nick?" he asked. She realized that she had almost been caught and floundered around for an answer, spouting the first one that came out of her head.

"He interests me, that's all." Her words were quick and only after they had been said did she realize how they sounded. Greg's left eye twitched but his features remained almost too casual as he looked away.

"You're…interested in Nick?" he tried to clarify calmly. Sara grinned then. Showing jealousy, this was just too good! Deciding that her mind had inadvertently come up with the best possible answer, she ran with it, nodding and knowing he was watching her from the corner of his eye. Then she spouted some kind of nonsense about his intriguing personality. Greg pouted for the rest of day, and Sara did a small victory dance in her head. Her joy was dampened when there were no direct leads on the case.

In the lab she met up with Warrick and they exchanged winks behind their partners' backs, noting the way they seemed to immediately gravitate towards each other, forgetting all else. The two observers grinned at the way they reached out to touch each other more frequently than was normal. Not even living together made you do that; they didn't even seem to realize that they were doing it.

The next day Sara dragged her young friend in to the same conversations as the day before, and they solved the case only because Greg escaped her for some quiet time away from her observations on how Nick looked in the jeans he was wearing. On Wednesday Grissom paired Sara with Nick and she began the process again, easily working Greg in to all of their conversations. Being less suspicious, he was only too happy to go along with it. Since she couldn't pretend to be interested in a gay man, she couldn't test Nick's jealousy that way. Undeterred, she continued with her questions and gentle probing. He suspected nothing.

Then on Thursday Grissom was sitting in his office completing some paperwork he was behind on when Conrad strolled in and demanded to talk in the snooty way he did everything. Grissom sighed and set aside his pen, weaving his hands together and assuming the patient expression he knew drove the day supervisor wild.

"Why hasn't Sanders attended the annual conferences yet?" he asked. Grissom knitted his brows together. There was a conference held once a year in New York City for all the new level one CSIs in the country. Greg had been a CSI for a couple years now, yet he'd never gone.

"Oh yes, I remember now," he mumbled as it came to him with a flash. "He was in the hospital when he was scheduled to go. It simply slipped my mind after that." He shrugged and pushed his glasses farther up his nose. Conrad sneered at him; it seemed to be his favorite expression when talking to Gil.

"There's a plane leaving for New York in 12 hours, and his butt better be on it or I'll have him fired for not following the proper training protocol!" With that, Ecklie gave one last sneer, turned, and disappeared down the hallways. Gil stared after him with his face calm until he was sure the other man wouldn't turn around and come back, then he allowed a smile of triumph to fill his face, and he paged Warrick and Sara in to his office. When they heard what had happened, they too smiled.

"This is perfect!" Sara crowed. "Separate them for a whole week and see what happens! Oh this is just amazing! I think I might even get Ecklie something for Christmas!" Warrick punched the air in victory and then he and Sara danced a small jig together, much to their boss' amusement. He forced them to calm down, then called everyone in. When the team was gathered together in the room he cleared his throat.

"Alright we've got some shuffling to do with our cases," he began, "we're going to be short a pair of hands for the next week. Greg I need you to go home early and pack. It's colder in New York so bring a nice coat." Greg opened his mouth to ask what was going on but Gil beat him to it. "You're leaving in twelve hours for the training conference you missed when you were in the hospital after the Demetrius James incident. If you don't go Ecklie's threatened to have you fired. So Nick that means you're joining Warrick on that case, Sara you'll have to work alone, and Catherine I'll be with you." He looked up to make sure they all understood and noticed Greg and Nick looking particularly dejected about this sudden turn of events.

Catherine left to fetch her case file so she could fill Grissom in on what was going on. Sara left to go work her now solo scene. Nick and Greg looked at each other for a long moment before Nick gave him a small quick hug and told him to have fun, then he shoved his hands sadly in his pockets and left with Warrick trailing behind him. Greg slumped in to the chair in front of his boss.

"A whole week, are you serious?" he asked. When he got a nod in return he made a discontented noise. "Why didn't we get more warning?" Grissom shrugged and Greg sighed. It was just like Ecklie to spring this kind of thing on them. It was pretty likely that he had noticed the situation a week ago and had made up excuses to put off telling them, just to see if he could trip them up. The man existed only to make their lives difficult.

After he received a thorough briefing on what to expect at the conference Greg was sent home to pack. He got all the way to the parking lot before he realized that Nick had driven that day, so he had to call a cab on his cell phone. He'd thought of asking if Nick could take a bit of time to drive him home, but figured that the answer would be no. The cab smelled like wet dog, and he was glad to get out when they pulled up to his building. The old lady next door wasn't out on her front lawn yet, it still being the wee hours after midnight, and he found that he missed her call of greeting.

It took forever to find his battered suitcase in the back of his closet, under a load of things he never used anymore. But it only took about two hours to gather everything he needed. One corner of the suitcase was completely devoted to hair products, and he knew it would make Nick smile to see it. That only made him frown. Since he still had about six hours, Greg took a nap for one of them, and then called a new cab to the airport. His gate eluded him for a while, and when he found it, it was full of old people that smelled bad. He spent the wait planning new and interesting ways to kill Conrad Ecklie.

Warrick kept a wide eye on Nick the rest of that day. He'd come to work in a good mood, but knowing that he was going home alone sent him right down in the pits for some reason that the Texan didn't understand. He worked quietly beside his friend, answering his questions monotonously. When Grissom walked by as dawn began to spread, Warrick sent him a smirk.

When he got home Nick automatically waved at the lady next door and ignored her curious face, as she wondered why Greg wasn't with him. He opened their front door and set his kit down gently, listening to the silence with a frown. He wandered in to the living room, then the kitchen, then both their bedrooms. It just bothered him that there were no signs of Greg. There wasn't even a hint that he lived here, since all his things were gone with him, and it just felt wrong.

It took until after he'd eaten an entire jar of jam for his dinner that Nick admitted to himself that it wasn't being alone that bothered him. He could deal with being alone for a little while. It was the absence of Greg. The bathroom sink looked too big without bottles of gel and mousse and hair bleach surrounding it. The TV was too big to play games on in single player mode. The stove was too big to cook for just one person, and the table was too long to eat at alone. And his bed was too big for one person.

It was crazy, he knew, because they didn't sleep together every single night. He'd spent plenty of nights stretched out across the top of his covers alone, wishing for a bigger bed. He'd slept without Greg many times without the blonde crossing his mind. But somehow, lying here and knowing that if he crossed the hall there wouldn't be a warm comforting friend to curl in behind, Nick was suddenly hit by the biggest wave of loneliness he'd ever had. He turned his head and looked at the clock. It was seven o'clock in the morning, which meant that in Texas it would be nine. He picked up the phone.

The line rang five times before it was picked up, and before he could respond to the greeting of a female voice, said voice took the phone away from their mouth and hollered at someone else running by. Nick smiled, the familiarity of his childhood home easing the knots in his stomach. He was the only Stokes child that had moved off the farm.

"_I'm sorry about that, hello is anyone still there?"_

"Hey Jennie, it's-" a squeal cut him off.

"Nicky! Everyone come quickly, Nicky's on the phone! Hold on baby brother, I'll put you on speaker!" Nick could hear a beep, and then the speaker picked up the sounds of running feet and excited voices babbling all at once. His heart lifted a little. Maybe he should call home more often, if this was the reception he would get. Many voices were yelling at the speaker and he laughed out loud.

"One at a time!" he yelled at them good-naturedly. They quieted – slowly – and his mother's voice rose above the crowd.

"How are you darling?"

"I'm fine Momma. A little lonely."

"_What's got you lonely? I thought you had that roommate? Greg was it?"_ Nick felt the knots in his stomach twisting again as he felt the emptiness of the apartment squeezing in on him.

"He's gone for a week," he admitted. His sister's voice came through the earpiece, and her words gave him pause.

"_Goody! If he's not there you can talk about him. Tell us what he's like. We want to know that whoever's rooming with you is a good guy!"_

"Spend my hard earned money on a long distance call to Texas talking about Greg?" Nick rolled on to his back and smiled gently at the ceiling. "I can do that."


	5. Chapter 5

By the fourth day of being home alone Nick was constantly on edge, and he was confined to the lab to only work on reports and filing. He didn't understand it, but his concentration had flown out the window and he didn't have any energy at all. Warrick had come over on Friday, declared in Guy's Night, and they'd both gotten trashed, not remembering a thing the next day. The only piece of evidence was the brand new mural on the kitchen wall, a finger paint depiction of the night shift CSIs. It wasn't half bad actually. He left it there, knowing Greg would enjoy it.

Nick heard someone coming in to the room but he didn't care enough to look up. He continued to write a report on some evidence that had been lost by a guy on days then recovered by him. He'd found it completely by accident, walking along with his eyes on his feet so it caught his eye. He jumped a little when a hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up at Sara.

"You miss Greg, don't you?" she asked, her voice soft. Nick blinked stupidly at her for a moment and thought about denying it. He looked down at the paper in his hands again.

"We've just never been apart for this long before," he found himself mumbling. Oh. So that's what was wrong with him. Nick sighed inside of his head. He hadn't even thought that that would be the problem with him for the last few days. When he was alone in his apartment and trying to fill the silence he could admit that he missed Greg. But that it would affect his work hadn't seemed like a possibility. He wondered why. Sara was nodding in a knowing way and smiling.

"Well he'll be back a few hours after shift come Thursday," she reminded him. "What do you say we all pile in Catherine's minivan and go pick him up?" Nick looked up quickly, a small smile forming on his lips. Greg wouldn't expect it, but he would love it. His smile grew and he nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I'd like that." Sara left and the rest of that night Nick felt himself pick up the pace a bit. He had something to look forward to now, and it gave him a little of his vigor back. No one mentioned anything, which he was grateful for. He had just finished changing out of his work clothes when Catherine walked in to the locker room and spotted him. She broke in to a great big smile.

"Sara asked me about going to pick up Greg. What a great idea Nick, I'm glad you thought of it!" She exclaimed, and then she flounced by again and disappeared, leaving Nick to almost trip over the bench. It wasn't his idea! He turned to tell Catherine that it had been Sara who had suggested it, not him, but the older woman was already gone to her car. He sat down and shook his head, reaching out to tie up one of his shoes and wondering why Sara would claim it was his idea.

The next three days seemed to crawl by extra slow to Nick, who was almost buzzing to see Greg come home. He didn't understand why he felt such a great need to have the other man back, but he didn't bother to question it right now. His concentration on _anything_ was getting even worse, but he didn't see the way his coworkers all smiled gently at him when he would zone out in the middle of a conversation. Grissom Sara and Warrick all high-fived behind his back, knowing that this had turned out exactly like they had hoped it would.

Result of the week with no Greg: Nick was definitely a repressed gay man in love with his roommate, who was also in love with him. He seemed unaware of both of these facts, but they figured that Warrick's part of their plan would soon be able to bring him around, and then it was up to him to take it from there. They wouldn't interfere past the part where they shove Nick's face in the obvious facts. But it was all right because that was the fun part for them anyway.

After shift on Thursday Catherine drove her minivan around to pick everyone up, saving Nick for last just so they could all see the anticipation on his face. Sara had called her and let her in on what she Warrick and Gil had been up to lately, filling her in on the results as well. Catherine had figured most of it out on her own, but she didn't say a thing. As she pulled up to Nick's apartment he was out of the door before she could even open hers, sprinting across the lawn with a huge grin and leaping in to the open door. He sat in the very back on the seven seating vehicle, in the middle of the triple seat. The other four turned and grinned at him widely and he cocked his head.

"What are you waiting for?" he demanded impatiently. "I'm here, I'm buckled, let's go!" He couldn't contain the squirm as Catherine slowly turned, chuckling, and put the van in gear, taking off down the street at just barely legal speeds. Houses flashed by the windows and the interstate crept up quickly. Nick watched as his friend weaved in and out of traffic expertly, yet safely, and wondered if it would be bad form to wish that she were a more daring driver. Warrick caught his attention and brought him in to a conversation about the football game that was on tomorrow.

With the distraction of his friends the ride went faster, and they were soon piling out in to the airport parking lot, trooping in to the building as one solid group and heading for the pick up area. The huge building was as crowded as ever, but the pick up area was surprisingly clear of large crowds. Most of the people were standing along the walls and ignoring the rows of chairs in the middle of the room. Nick and his friends waited near the chairs, not really sitting in them but using them as a focal point in case someone wandered off.

A door opened suddenly and people began flooding through as flight 56 from New York disembarked. So many different figures stepped out, yet not the one they were waiting for. It seemed forever until a familiar head of spiky blonde hair passed through the doorway, and they took in his haggard face. He looked like he was, for once, feeling all of his 33 years as he stepped down the ramp slowly. Nick couldn't contain himself then.

"Greg!" he shouted over the noise of all the people around them. Greg's head shot up at the sound of that so very familiar voice, and the crowd thoughtfully parted until they had a clear sight path to each other. The weary look fell off Greg's face as he caught sight of Nick, blind to all else, and he grinned broadly. Nick had been reining himself in all week, but he broke free now, barreling across the room with a whoop. Greg didn't even have time to step forward as Nick swooped low, picking him up at the waist to twirl him in the arm. His suitcase fell to the ground forgotten and he grabbed on to Nick's shoulders, throwing his head back in joyous laughter.

Nick was laughing too, madly and freely, as they spun on the spot and he felt a familiar warmth flood through his system. His Greg had come home. The knowledge sent relief signals to every nerve in his body and he pulled his head back to catch Greg's eye. Greg looked down and his grin was so big that it was lopsided and goofy looking and Nick didn't think he'd ever been happier to see someone's smile. A throat was cleared and Nick let Greg drop to the ground again. The younger man turned and squeaked in surprise to find four more smiling faces awaiting him.

"You _all_ came to pick me up?" He exclaimed happily, accepting the high five Warrick offered him. Sara and Catherine gave each other a sly look as the blonde woman answered him.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," she muttered. The two men standing with them both gave a bit of a snort, but Greg's attention was already refocused on Nick as the Texan grabbed him by the shoulder, already having retrieved his bag. They gave each other smiles that everyone else in the world but them could see through. It was all too obvious that they were more than glad to see each other and that being apart had killed them. While they were distracted, Grissom whispered to the rest of the team to point out something he thought pretty significant. He pointed out Nick's hand, still on Greg's shoulder; even as they spoke he didn't remove it. Catherine asked what it meant.

"He's reestablishing a connection," Grissom explained. "He's touching Greg to make sure he's really there. It's something one does with family or a lover, not usually friends. Friends hug then back up. He declaring his feelings without even knowing it." They all nodded in understanding, watching Nick laugh at something Greg said and put a hand on the younger man's chest. Greg's eyes brightened at the contact and his grin grew wider. He hesitated for a moment, and then boldly threw an arm around Nick's shoulders, relaxing when it was accepted, and they heard him suggest going home.

No one tried to move in on Nick's protective zone to give Greg greeting hugs as they all headed back to Catherine's van. Warrick slid in to the passenger side. Sara and Grissom let Greg and Nick climb in to the back before they took the two middle seats. They had been on the highway for only a half hour, not even a quarter of the whole drive, when Greg's eyelids began to droop, exhausted from getting up early to wait for a plane and then the stress of the actual flight.

Sara tapped Catherine's shoulder, and the mother figure used her rear view mirror to join the rest in watching Greg slowly lean in to Nick. Nick seemed to either forget where they were or not care for once as he turned slightly and let Greg stretch out across the whole back seat, laying a head in his lap. He was just on the verge of sleep, and everyone was watching when Greg cracked one eye open.

"Nick?" he murmured, voice laden with the sleep that was fighting to claim him. Nick smiled down at him warmly.

"What's up Greggo?" he asked, laying one hand on top of the blonde hair he so loved to bury his face in at night. Greg's hummed at the comforting gesture, closing his eye again.

"Missed you," Greg's whisper drifted up to Nick, and all the way over to Catherine, who felt her eyes crinkle. Nick tilted his head and managed to register the second flooding of relief through his brain. He ignored it.

"I missed you too G," he said, but Greg was already asleep, safe and secure in the arms of his unrequited love. His week away had been so hard that just the sight of Nick standing there waiting for him in the airport had sent his heart soaring to the sky. He knew that Nick might not like being alone for a week, that was why they had moved in after all, but never had he imagined such an enthusiastic greeting as the hug he had gotten. He'd had to physically restrain himself from reaching out and pulling Nick's lips to his. It had been tiring to fret and worry and pine away all week and then have such an emotional upload as soon as he landed.

But now he was back in a place that was both familiar and foreign. In Nick's arms he allowed himself to relax and drift away, but at the same time he was hyper aware that there were other people in the car, and that every one of them knew of his feelings. He was almost tempted to stay awake just to make sure that no one blabbed anything because of the intimate position they were in. Only Warrick knew that they slept like this all the time. He hoped. As sleep overtook him without letting him hear Nick's words, he didn't catch Warrick's dirty chuckle.

Nick did. He looked up and cocked his head at his other best friend. He finally noticed that everyone but the driver was twisted in their seats to watch him. Instead of being embarrassed, he cocked his head to the other side and blinked in the afternoon sunlight.

"What?" he asked. If they wanted to make more of this than what it was, that wasn't his problem. Up front, he heard Warrick chuckle once more.

"Couldn't wait for the bed, huh?" he asked, all sorts of implications evident in his voice. Nick furrowed his brows as he studied that meaningful face. He realized with a start: Warrick knew! Somehow he knew that they slept like this. Far from caring, he was only surprised that Greg would mention that when he had had so many reservations about even telling people that they lived together. Warrick seemed to read his mind. "It just sort of came up in conversation," he explained. "I gave him hell for it too." Nick assumed he meant that he teased him quite a bit.

He settled for ignoring the other man and trying to strike up small talk with Grissom about a case they were having trouble with. It worked like a charm on the career-minded guy, and once again talking made the time go faster. It helped that he was holding Greg, rather than waiting for him.

Finally they pulled up at the apartment. The young man was still sound asleep in his lap, but he woke up when Nick tried to lift him in to his arms. He smiled sleepily and croaked out that he could walk, so Nick set him down on the grass and he wobbled a bit, using his friend and the car for support. He grinned sheepishly before shaking his head to clear it and regaining his balance. To prove that he was good now, he moved to grab his suitcase, but Nick smirked and refused to hand it over, just pointed him in the direction of their home. Greg waved to the rest of them and stumbled away across the grass. Warrick leaned out his window and waved Nick closer.

"We still on for tomorrow?" he asked, hiding his own smirk. Tomorrow was Friday, guy's night. Nick looked back and forth between his two best friends, conflicted between keeping his promise to Warrick and spending the day alone with Greg. Finally he just nodded and resisted sighing. Stupid responsibility. The minivan pulled away and Nick threw the battered brown suitcase across his shoulders, walking in to the home and noticing that suddenly, everything was _right_. There were two silver kits by the front door, some kind of music was playing somewhere, and the lights were on everywhere. Greg simply couldn't walk through a room without illuminating it, and he usually forgot to turn it off when he left. Nick moved about, trying to find where his roommate had gone, and was startled to see him contentedly curled up in Nick's bed, face buried in one of the blue covered pillows.

"Tired?" he asked quietly from the doorway, amusement in his voice. Greg turned his head slightly so Nick could see one eye peeking over at him and he nodded very slightly, snuggling deeper in to the soft mattress. Nick nodded as well. "Me too," he confessed, dropping his jeans and chucking them at the laundry basket in the corner. His thick shirt followed and he bounced down on the mattress, right away falling over in an awkward way. He heard Greg snicker and swatted him before squirming flush next to him, reveling in being so close. The snicker turned to a satisfied sigh as they both snuggled as close together as they could.

For a while they were both silent in the darkness, the blackout curtains on the windows blocking the afternoon sun from streaming in. Nick felt like he was waiting for something, but Greg was home now, he didn't know what else he needed. He just had this feeling that something more was to come before he could sleep. He felt Greg shift.

"Did you miss me Nick?" his soft, nervous voice came out of the blackness. Nick gaped at the hair his face had burrowed in to and scoffed.

"Like I've never missed anyone in my life," he said honestly. "I slept in your bed the whole week. You're gunna have to take me with you next time, 'cause this place was all wrong without you." Nick tried not to think about the warmth that came with saying those words as he snuffled his way past Greg's hair to blow on his neck where he knew it would tickle. Greg giggled a little and shivered.

"Um…I stole your A&M sweater…don't be mad?" Nick could almost hear the innocent smile in his voice and it made him laugh. He asked why his sweater had made the trip to New York when Greg owned plenty of his own. "It smelled like you, I slept in it," came the small confession, sending a thrill through Nick that he didn't understand. He chuckled and closed his eyes. Seemingly of it's own volition, although neither complained, his arm wound itself around Greg's thin waist and held him tighter. The sense that he had been waiting for something dissipated and he smiled as they both fell in to the oblivion.

Greg awoke to find that they had tangled together in their sleep, and he turned his head to see Nick's mouth hanging open. He'd been talking in his sleep. Greg smiled fondly and did his best to extract himself from the mess of limbs so he could go to the bathroom. He relieved himself and brushed his teeth, putting off a shower until after he had eaten. He was passing their rooms when a whimper reached his ear and he began to worry out of reflex.

When he pushed the door open, he could see Nick still in slumber. His arm had stretched across the bed to reach out, silently protesting Greg's absence. Greg felt his heart melt a little and he moved to sit on the edge, picking up Nick's hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. Still dreaming, Nick smiled, reassured, and mumbled something incoherent. With a small shake of his head, Greg patted the hand, replaced it on the bed, and went to search for food. The kitchen was cold and he shivered when the fridge blasted even colder air all over him. After rooting through it he couldn't help but notice that a jar of jam, a tub of icing, and all the leftover Chinese food was gone. Apparently Nick hadn't been eating well without him here. That thought confused him, since he usually had to beg the man to eat something not good for him. With a shrug he scavenged through the freezers for something healthy for breakfast and smirked as his eyes fell on the frozen muffin mix he hadn't gotten around to actually baking yet.

Nick's nose woke him soon after, and he stretched languidly, inhaling two familiar smells. One was the fresh scent signifying that Greg really had been lying next to him all night, he hadn't been dreaming. The other was a food he couldn't place. In just his boxers he stumbled down the carpeted hall and stopped when he reached the kitchen to observe Greg. The blonde had a towel across one shoulder and oven mitts on, and somehow he looked very handsome. He opened the oven and took out a tray of delicious looking muffins, setting them down next to a bubbling pot of homemade soup. He was jigging his way over to the fridge for something when he made a pirouette, spotting Nick, tripped, and crashed to the floor.

Nick collapsed in helpless laughter and Greg harrumphed, standing and dusting off his boxers, which was the only thing he was wearing. They mirrored each other with their sleep tousled hair and non-existent attire. Nick came closer and placed a hand on the small of his friends back as he inhaled deeply over the boiling soup.

"Smells excellent. What's the occasion?" he asked. He received a dazzling smile that rooted him to the spot for the space of a few seconds.

"Nothing, just thought I'd cook you a good breakfast," was the simple explanation. Nick smiled indulgently and shook his head.

"I was gunna do the same for you, but I guess you beat me to it," he said. "Now, dish it out and let's eat!" Greg grinned again and ladled the soup in to two large bowls and tossed Nick a couple muffins, taking two for himself. They ate the hearty food, chatting the whole time like they'd been starved of conversation for months. Afterwards they sat down and had just turned on the Xbox when a knock came from the door. Greg looked at Nick with a frown, wondering who it could possibly be, but Nick cursed. He had forgotten Warrick was coming over.

He got up to let him in, but Warrick stopped as soon as he saw Nick, his eyebrows rising. They rose impossibly higher when Greg walked past his line of vision. Nick had his back turned, so he didn't see Greg's curious face become one of disbelieving annoyance when he spotted who had arrived.

"You guys starting a new trend?" the dark man asked. Nick was confused before he realized that both he and Greg were still not dressed. He laughed and hurried down the hall, coming out wearing jeans and pulling on a t-shirt. He tossed pants and a sweater to Greg, who thanked him and slipped in to them quickly.

They brought Warrick in to the game they had just booted up, and spent the hours until dinner – or breakfast – time racing cars around city scenes. Then he announced that he had brought beer, and had left in the car to chill in the night air. Nick seemed all game, but Greg had to fight back rolling his eyes. Warrick was transparent, and his sudden interest in drinking with Nick was obviously aimed at Greg somehow. However, for the sake of keeping his crush in the dark, he went along with it. He did make an effort to limit Nick's drinks, but the Texan was trying to show off, just like every other time. One beer in him and he became Mr. Look What I Can Do. Actually, Greg found it pretty cute.

For dinner they ordered pizza and Greg realized that Warrick was feeling the buzz too when he counted the empty bottles. Warrick had had twice as many as Nick, so they were matched, slosh for slosh, and Greg's suspicions were confirmed when he came back from clearing away the pizza boxes to hear them break in to song together. He paused in the doorway and listened to them mangle the classic Miss American Pie. It was quite amusing, if terribly off key. Not that either of them were spectacular singers in the first place. When they wound down to a finish the sound of clinking beers reached him and Greg decided that they'd had enough. Neither one would appreciate a huge hangover, so he went in and told Warrick it was home time.

When their guest was safely riding home in a cab, Greg dragged Nick up on to his feet and pointed him in the direction of his bedroom. The older man had different ideas though. He ignored his orders and stood, allowing himself to be supported, all of his concentration set on staring at Greg with an indecipherable expression on his face. Greg was about to ask what the matter was when he moved his head forward and gently pressed their lips together.

Greg almost fell down. He almost dropped Nick. He almost stopped breathing. Nick's lips moved insistently against his own and what else could he do but respond. He whimpered as Nick's hands pressed them together, knowing he should stop it. But it was like asking him to jump off the Empire State Building. He wanted to, yet he didn't. He couldn't. The kiss was slow, soft, and the most painful thing that he'd ever experienced. It was so good and yet he knew it was just the beer. When Nick pulled back at long last Greg could feel a tear escaping his eye.

"I really missed you, you know?" Nick mumbled in his drunken slur, turning away and lurching down the hall to bed. Greg stared after him, unable to move. He could do nothing but stand in the living room and try to talk himself out of crying over something he'd accepted long ago. It proved futile, so he took a long cold shower, changed clothes, and spent the day awake, sitting on the couch and trying to blank his mind of such a perfect kiss, one he had no right to receive. When Nick woke that evening, he didn't remember a thing, as Greg had come to count on. The blonde continued on like normal.

They traveled to work together in Nick's truck, both glad to have the other beside them. With Greg back and Christmas two weeks away, Nick was suddenly energized like he hadn't been in a very long time. His mind was razor sharp in its focus, but again no one mentioned anything. He finished all the paperwork he'd been neglecting in record time and was ready for an assignment by the middle of Tuesday. Grissom paired him with Catherine, taking note of his disappointed face. They spent the day in different parts of Vegas but met up in the break room.

While they sat next to each other on the couch, Grissom sat quietly in a corner and observed them. They were both reaching out unconsciously to touch in each other in small ways, much more than they usually did, to reassure themselves that the other was still there. The time apart appeared to have shaken them. Nick didn't seem to be aware that as he spoke animatedly to Catherine, his hand would stray to Greg's thigh, or that their legs would press together briefly. But Grissom saw the way his head would turn often just to catch a glimpse of the man next to him. Connection established, the Texan was deepening it for all he was worth. The boss smiled because if only he could make them see they would be so happy.

Then before any of them knew it, it was Christmas. The special day actually came with a light dusting of snow in the air as they all drove to work, hating to come in on this day but knowing that crimes didn't stop just for them. They had decorated the break room, and every one brought a different festive food. It became a sort of all day come and go as you can party, complete with mistletoe hung in the doorway. Greg saw the plant hanging above and jumped past it faster than the wind, receiving a smirk from Warrick.

They did all have scenes to process, but the moments in between were spent together sharing good food and friendly conversation. When the lab rats were free, they also came in and socialized. Since he'd been outed to his coworkers, Greg didn't bother wasting his energy on flirting with the women around him. He did flirt a little bit, but that was just his natural personality. Instead, he spent his extra energy today on keeping an eye out for Nick and, when opportunity arose, spending as much time by his side as possible. It never occurred to him that Nick might be doing the same thing. He just soaked up the holiday feeling and waited impatiently for the end of the night.

When the shift finally did end, and the party was finishing up, Catherine called out for gifts and everyone hauled armloads of colorfully wrapped boxes out of their lockers, carting them back to the break room. The presents were all passed out until they each had their own small pile to unwrap. They all poised with childish grins until Grissom shouted 'go!' and then they tore in with glee, paper flying everywhere and ribbons becoming tangled in hair.

Greg went at his with gusto, deliberately saving Nick's for last. It was a good-sized box wrapped in silver paper with little reindeer leaping all over it. When he reached it, being faster than anyone else, he paused to peer at it suspiciously. It was weighty, but not too much, and he could tell the gift had been put inside an empty box so that he couldn't guess by the shape. Carefully he peeled away the tape on top and shoved aside the paper it had held. Yup, blank corrugated cardboard greeted him. He glanced up to see that Nick, along with everyone else, was still in the middle of his pile. He wasn't watching. So Greg slowly peeled away the tape that held the two flaps shut and whipped them open. His cry of shock stopped all movement.

"You didn't!" he yelled, unable to take his eyes of his prize. Inside the box laid an original Nintendo system in mint condition, two charily wrapped controllers, and three games. He forced his head up to see Nick's gaping smug grin. They just knew each other too well; he knew exactly how much this would mean to a video game enthusiast like Greg. The blonde was almost shaking as he reached in and tenderly ran his fingers across the retro 'START' and 'RESET' buttons. Warrick leaned over to see what it was and whistled.

"Where did you get this?" Greg breathed, still riveted to the system. He could feel Nick's warm smile from across the room.

"It was hard, _believe_ me," he said simply. Greg nodded wordlessly. Everyone went back to opening their own gifts. Catherine cried out and threw her arms around Warrick when she unwrapped a silver necklace from him. Grissom smiled at the rare butterfly cocoon Sara had gotten him, and he kissed her cheek when he thought no one was looking. Naturally, they all were. Finally Greg sat back and watched nervously as Nick picked up his present. It was slim, wrapped in plain red, and totally un-guessable. The Texan opened it quickly and looked up with a confused expression. Since it was the last gift left in the room, everyone was watching.

"Photocopies of plane tickets? You'll have to explain this one to me," he told his friend. Greg put his feet up on an empty chair and smirked with a confidence he didn't feel. He really hoped Nick would like this.

"Oh I know," he agreed. "So, I pick up the phone one morning right? And it's your mom. You were sleeping, but she deigned to talk to the lovely me for a bit. Asked how you had been and all that. She mentioned how she really wished you could have come home this year and I asked why she didn't just come here. Not got enough money she says.

"But I had a secret weapon. I think I forgot to tell you guys this, but on the flight to New York, my lost my luggage for three days and when I got it back, one of their employees had stolen and sold my iPod. I didn't make a fuss, but on the flight back one of the attendants dropped a pot of coffee on me. Burned like hell. I changed in the bathroom. Anyway, the point is that the airline promised that the next ten flights I took with them were free.

"So there I sat with your mother on the phone missing you and this card in my back pocket with the airline head honcho's number on the back. And what do I do? I whip out my cell phone and give him a call while she's holding on the landline. I pulled in the favor he promised and got your family free tickets to Vegas. I think they all arrive in fifteen days, eight at night. We're going to have to go pick them up by the way." Greg finally shut his mouth and cast about nervously for a drink. His throat was dry from all the talking, and from hoping Nick would be happy. When he looked up, happy didn't even describe it. The man looked stunned beyond believe, and the ticket copies had fallen from his hand in to his lap.

"You…G…oh my god…" Greg watched tears springing up in the older man's eyes and the huge smile spreading on his face, and he knew that he had done well. He wanted nothing more at that moment that to wrap his friend in a huge hug, but he sat where he was, not knowing that Nick was fighting the same compulsion. Soon they were heading home, and Greg couldn't help melting at the gratitude shining in Nick's eyes the whole way.

Their elderly neighbor called her daily greeting and Greg was struck with an idea. He ran in to the house, gathered a container full of fresh baked cookies, and hurried over to give them to his neighbor. She had tears of gratitude for him as well. But Greg got all the thanks he needed when he laid in his bed for the night and Nick appeared in the doorway, immediately crawling up next to him and laying his head on Greg's chest. Greg wrapped his arms around Nick and thanked god for Christmas.


	6. Chapter 6

The next two Fridays, Warrick came over with his beer again. And on both occasions, as soon as he left and Nick was smashed, Greg found himself getting kissed. He never managed to protest or push him away, but it hurt both times. He never said anything in the morning, but Nick began to notice that when he woke up Greg was always sitting on the couch, staring at nothing like he was daydreaming.

Then it was the day Nick's family was set to arrive. Greg drove toward the airport, alone in his Jetta, being followed closely by Nick in the minivan he had borrowed from Catherine. They did, after all, have quite a large family to pick up. Six sisters, one brother, two parents, and a mystery guest that Greg had refused to reveal to his friend. As he maneuvered the interstate traffic Greg let his mind wander. Would Nick's family like him? Not that it mattered; he was just the roommate. Yet he still felt some deep need to get on the good side of the Stokes'. Mamma seemed to like him already from their conversation on the phone, and had insisted that he call her Mamma instead of Mrs. Stokes. Greg thought that was nice. He still called his own mom Mother.

The cell in his pocket buzzed and he whipped it out, carefully darting his eyes between the screen and the cars around him. It was from Nick, just to say thank you again. Greg laughed, picturing Nick going wild in the car alone, bursting with happy energy and not having an outlet. He didn't bother texting back, just concentrated on driving a little faster. The radio blasted its noise around the vehicle, filling his ears with almost nonsensical words, and he let himself get carried away with singing.

Once again, the pick up area wasn't busy. There were even fewer people this time, and Nick and Greg grinningly stood dead center of the room, whistling loud tunes just to draw attention to themselves out in the middle of no mans land. They laughed at their own stupidity, and then Nick began bouncing on the balls of his feet when people began to pour out of that secret door across the room. Greg watched him and made a mental note to avoid taking him to airports in the future. It was fun watching him get excited, but he looked just a little bit too much like his blonde roommate, who smirked at that thought.

This time, it was Nick rooted to the spot by a dozen voices crying his name and stampeding toward him. Greg stepped out of the way as the Texan found himself suddenly swarmed under, almost drowning in kisses and on the verge of suffocating from all the tight hugs. His sisters were far from the idea of delicate little women. He loved every second of it though. He found himself laughing and picking up the closest sister and reaching out to kiss the second closest one. Finally he was able to disentangle himself and make out his mother's voice talking to him.

"Oh my young baby, we did miss you!" she was saying, reaching out to touch his face almost reverently. He smiled at her, and then she looked around. "Did you come to get us all by yourself?" she asked. Nick shook his head and tried to see around the group of them, which was difficult since they all seemed to want to stand as close to him as possible. Finally he spotted spiky hair and pushed a couple sisters out of the way. Far from being overwhelmed, the blonde had a slightly wistful expression on his face. Nick threw an arm across his shoulders and Greg went a little red as they all looked right at him.

"This is my Greggo," Nick declared, making Greg's face burn hotter. Mamma gave a happy little motherly squeal.

"The darling boy who set all this up for us?" she exclaimed. Greg nodded sheepishly and suddenly found himself with an armful of affectionate Mamma, being kissed in to submission. Nick laughed at his surprised face. Finally the woman pulled away, still spouting profuse thanks, and Nick herded them all towards the exit. Greg tried to shove his hands in his pockets and disappear, but he felt one of the Stokes women sidling up next to him.

"So you're Greg," she clarified in a strident voice that Greg was sure Grissom would hear all the way back at the lab. He nodded and gave her one of his best Sanders smiles, laced with charm.

"And you're Jenna!" he shot back. The tall woman looked stunned but managed to keep walking along with the group. She looked incredulously over at her brother.

"How did he do that?" she asked. Nick shook his head in equal disbelief, looking strangely at his roommate.

"I have no idea," he said. "Do you mean to tell me that you actually _listen_ when I talk about this motley crew?" Greg grinned and cleared his throat. Here he was in his element; charming people off their feet and doing the unexpected was what he knew best. Time for a small demonstration. He pointed at each of them in turn and rattled off names for people he'd never met before in his life.

"Jenna, Anna, Tessie, Marie, Rose, and Michelle. That would make you Chad, Mamma and Cisco! Or you know, Mr. Stokes. Please don't kill me…" Greg's voice trailed off, a little intimidated by the Judge. His hard features crinkled in to a warm smile though, and Greg knew he had passed some sort of test. The siblings were all exclaiming in awe that he could name every one of them without being introduced.

Instead of leaving right away, Greg steered them towards a different kind of pickup without his friend noticing, and they stood there in wait until an attendant in a black and green uniform came running over carrying a large plastic crate. The crate was growling. Mamma pulled a long blue leash out of her pocket, reached in and clipped it to something in the crate, then stood and led out a beautiful golden retriever. Nick's jaw dropped.

"Maverick!" he shouted, dropping down on his knees. The shaggy dog barked and tackled him, licking his face all over. Nick's grin was even bigger than when he heard his family was coming to visit. He roughhoused with his old pet; carefully though, since he was getting quite old. He took the leash from his mother and turned to look up at who ever was closest, his eyes questioning happily. Greg smiled at him.

"I told you I had ten tickets. There's only nine of these guys. We thought, you know, why not?" he shrugged his shoulders, and didn't see Nick come flying until he was wrapped in a hug and spun in a circle; oddly reminiscent of the last time they were here. Nick muttered something in his ear, and Greg thought it might be 'you're the best', but then the older man was back down on the ground with his dog. He cast about for a subject change.

"I know you're happy and all, but I don't care what you say, that thing is not getting in my Jetta!" his declaration caused laughter all around and they all got up to leave. They split up between the two vehicles, and Greg found Chad sitting beside him, the backseat decorated with Marie, Jenna, and Tessie.

He waited to make sure that they were all buckled down, and then checked through his window to see if everyone in Nick's minivan was all set. With a mischievous grin he signaled to Nick to roll down their windows. Momma rolled down her passenger side window so Nick could speak across to him. He leaned over and asked what Greg needed. He blonde smirked cheekily.

"Beat you home!" he declared, then struck his pedal to the floor and they tore out the parking lot at breakneck speeds. He could hear Nick's distant whoop, accepting the challenge, but he already had a head start. The brother beside him was roaring with laughter, and the girls in the backseat were giggling as well. Greg thought that was a good sign. He hadn't even thought about what they would think of it. The idea had come to him and he'd ran with it, as many of his random antics happened. He didn't have a very effective thought-to-action filter.

He hit the highway much faster than his older friend, thanks to a couple helpful red lights and his quick getaway. The familiar rhythm of monotone driving had him relaxing and striking up conversation with Chad while the girls chatted away about girl things. Chad was the oldest, the patriarch of the siblings, and he was very interesting. He knew even more about football than his little brother, and had even brought his favorite ball so they could play while he was here. Greg admitted to knowing very little about the sport and received thankful exclamations from his backseat.

"So how long you two been living together?" Chad asked out of nowhere, near to home. They were just pulling within the Vegas limits.

"About seven, seven and a half years now," Greg replied automatically. Chad nodded.

"Ain't neither one of you thought about getting married and moving out?" he asked curiously. Greg then demonstrated his amazing skills of stupidity as he spoke without thinking, busy checking to see if he could pass some maniac in front of him.

"Well it's kind of illegal for me to get married," he murmured absently, whipping out and around the crazy man, cutting him off and continuing at a safe speed. Crazy man honked his horn but he ignored the guy. Marie exclaimed over how different traffic was here than in Texas. To his right, Chad was looking at him quizzically.

"How is it illegal for you to get married?" he asked, and Greg realized what he had said. He sighed and silently berated himself for being so careless. Apparently he'd grown complacent with all his home friends knowing. He shook his head before taking a deep breath.

"Boy it's a good thing we're almost home. You might be uncomfortable with this, coming from Texas and all. I'm…gay," Greg kept his eyes glued to the road as he spoke, not daring to look Chad in the eye. Silence pressed in on him for long minutes as the people in the Jetta processed this. Finally he heard a small, disgruntled noise from Tessie, and he could see her crossing her arms in his mirror.

"Well damn it," she said. Chad turned in his seat to gape at her, scandalized.

"Tessie, you're married!" he cried. She rolled her eyes and ignored him, and Greg felt a small blush creeping up his neck. Chad was shaking his head as he turned to face the right way again, steadily examining Greg. The blonde was on the verge on saying something when he broke in to a giant grin.

"You got the hots for my brother don't you?" he asked. Greg tensed, suddenly gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. He slumped in his seat and tried to stutter out something to deny it but Chad was relentless. He laughed, seemingly perfectly fine with Greg's being gay. "Oh that's too good!" he crowed, making Greg cough as he pulled on to his own street at long last.

"Um, if you could avoid mentioning this, that would be great," he said, then before Chad could reply he straightened and brightened. "There it is, home sweet home. Thank you for flying Air Sanders, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle until we have come to a complete stop!" He was met by laughter and he pulled in to the driveway next to Nick's pick up. They piled out and two minutes later the minivan stopped on the curb and even more people filled the lawn. Greg grinned at Nick and declared that he had won the race, earning himself a pair of rolling eyes.

Then he scurried over to unlock the door and let everyone inside. Right away the whole place was filled to bursting, but they seemed content in the small space, leaning against the walls when there wasn't enough seats. The two roommates gave enough tours of the place to make them consider suicide, but finally everyone had seen everything. They inspected the photos framed in the hallway of the team and asked who was who, and Chad exclaimed loudly over the huge collection of Xbox games.

Nick found himself seated at the kitchen table with his parents and older brother, happier than he had been in so long. Maverick didn't stray from his side, and he had one hand in permanent petting mode as he caught up with everything that was happening back home. His sisters were wandering in and out, caught between catching up with him, and getting to know Greg. The blonde was in the living room, doing god knows what. Nick was afraid to ask.

He looked up when Jenna came bouncing in to the room and grinned at him. She leaned over his shoulder, hugging him lightly as she reached for the bowl of chips on the table and grabbed a handful. She straightened and Nick continued to discuss football stats with Cisco when suddenly she spoke up. He almost fell out of his seat, having forgotten she was still standing behind him.

"Your roommate is hot," she said out of nowhere. Nick turned to gape at her but didn't get a chance to say anything because there came a wistful sigh from Tessie, who was leaning against a wall and watching him in the next room.

"Yeah, it's too bad he's gay," he lamented. Nick turned to gape at her now, and all conversation in the room stopped. His parents' heads swiveled to stare at him for confirmation and he sighed deeply. He had planned on telling them eventually, but not like that. And he'd planned to let them get to know Greg better so they would have a harder time judging him for it.

"Um…yeah…Greg's gay by the way. It's cool though, he's not flamboyant about it or anything." He could see the shock on people's faces, but they seemed ok with it. No disgust showed up in their expressions, just wonder and surprise. He was grateful for that. Jenna was leaning around the wall to get a better look at the blonde male. She let loose and huff of disappointment.

"What is the world coming to when a man that hot is gay?" she asked. Nick laughed in relief that no one was taking this badly and mock glared at her. She was, after all, married. They all were but him.

"You mean what is the world coming to when all my sisters want to hit on my gay roommate!" he countered.

"What about your sisters hitting on your gay roommate?" a bewildered voice came the doorway. Nick winced and turned to see Greg standing there, eyebrows raised. He didn't look mad that any of them knew though, which was a good thing. He continued towards his original destination, the fridge, and rooted around inside. A shout of victory came from within but he didn't withdraw from the cold appliance. They watched him curiously.

Moments later another victory cry came and he stood holding a tub of icing, which wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that he came up with a small white box, the top cut off to reveal a blank cake. He grinned and set it on the counter, bringing out a knife to slather on the icing. Nick wondered how he hadn't noticed that in there in the last few days until he remembered that they had been eating nothing but take out for the last half a week. Greg was dancing a little as he worked the smooth chocolate sugar over his hidden white confection. Nick threw a chip and hit him in the back of the neck.

"Why do I put up with you?" he jokingly asked. Greg grinned over his shoulder and danced a little more energetically, wiggling his butt around. He was oblivious to the lustful stares of six married women.

"It is either my adorable butt – and you know it's adorable – or my excellent cooking. One or the other, and I haven't decided which!" He wiggled his eyebrows and turned back to the cake, finishing with a flourish. Then he deposited it in front of Mamma and handed her a cake knife to split it up with. Nick threw another chip at him and it bounced off his nose, landing in the cake.

"Your gay is showing Greg," he muttered, making the blonde laugh and scurry away to the living room. Mamma called her thanks to him for thinking of baking them a welcoming cake, and served everyone in the room a slice. Greg, surprisingly, was the only one who didn't come get one. The sugar lover stayed holed up in the living room, and Chad went in to challenge him to a racing game on their gaming system. Nick stayed in his seat with his dog and his parents, sisters still rotating from room to room. No one noticed Jenna slipping away from the group and disappearing in to Nick and Greg's bedrooms to look around curiously for signs of significant others.

Finally Cisco stood and declared in his booming voice that they would be back tomorrow. They were staying in rooms in the closest hotel. Nick told them where to find the spare key hidden outside and said goodbye to them all at the door. Maverick stayed in the apartment with them. When it was just the two of them left he flopped on to the couch and scratched his dog behind the ears, glancing around to spot Greg in the armchair.

"I'm beat," he confessed. "I forgot how much they could take it out of you." Greg smiled at him and asked what he wanted to do. If they went to bed now, they would wake up early, and be tired by the end of their shift with no energy for another big visit. Nick thought about it for a long time, just lying still, when it came to him. "Hey go get that book we started. We could read for a while." He actually half expected Greg to protest and suggest a video game, but the blonde just nodded and went to fetch his book.

He came back and settled in to a normal sitting position beside Nick, holding it out so both could read it. Instead, Nick pushed him over and wormed his way in to the position they had been in last time. He hummed in comfort as Greg tried to find the page they had left off at. He could feel Greg's heartbeat thumping against the back on his head and idly wondered if it always went that fast. Maybe they should start eating more of his health food if he was unhealthy enough to have a rapid heartbeat.

The page was found and they settled in to read their book. Soon however, Nick saw the book drooping, Greg's hands starting to relax as he fell in to slumber. The Texan smiled as soft breathing whispered across his shoulder, Greg's head having fallen aside, and kept reading without him. But one page later his own eyes snapped shut without warning and he was carried away by his dreams, safe and secure in Californian arms.

Being asleep, they both missed the turn of a key in their lock and the two sets of footsteps stepping inside carefully. Chad and Jenna appeared in the hallway, looking for the purse that the woman had left. They stopped dead when they looked in to the living room and saw the two men on the couch. Greg still held the book loosely, his arms wrapped around Nick to hold it on the older man's chest. His head was flopped to face the back of the couch and he looked positively angelic. Nick's head had dropped to face the two standing on the other side of the room, his hands folded casually in his lap. The smile on his face was contented and warm. Chad and Jenna looked at the two men, looked at each other, then grabbed her purse and booked it out of there. As soon as the door closed on the home they burst in to animated discussion.

When Greg and Nick awoke that evening, they woke only seconds apart. Greg came to and tried to lift his hand to rub at his eyes, only to drop the book he didn't realize he still held. It tumbled out of his hands, hit Nick in the chest, and fluttered down to the floor, closing and once again losing the page before he could mark it. The older man groaned and raised his own hand to rub at the spot the book had hit him.

"Fine, throw things at me before I'm even up," he grumbled. Greg smiled groggily at him and laid his head back down. He was so warm and comfy he never wanted to move again. But eventually his couch partner did, rolling off him and heading right for the shower. Greg tried not to linger on the feel of Nick pressed down on him as he went in search of food. He took his turn in the shower, then they stood and looked at each other for a moment, wondering what to do with their spare hour. At the same moment they heaved identical knowing sighs, grabbed their kits, and headed in to work early.

Grissom was the only one there when they arrived, but he happily sent Greg away to work some casino scene, saying Sara would meet him there as soon as she arrived. Nick was sent off to process the body of a young man found inside a dumpster with two shots to the head. He asked why they couldn't just go off to one of the scenes together but Grissom gave him a really weird smile and told him to get going. Nick huffed and retreated to his truck. He dropped Greg off and headed over to the restaurant his body was located behind. He couldn't even recall the last case he and Greg worked together and he found that he missed it.

They worked together as great as they played together and he actually preferred to work beside the quirky blonde, even over Warrick. The conversation flowed easier and the way the both criss-crossed the scene without once bumping in to each other or getting in each other's way was cool. It was as if they were totally in sync; he couldn't find that rhythm with anyone else. Not only that, but Nick didn't like spending hours away from that friendly smile that made him break in to a smile of his own. He made a weird noise of discontent as he parked out front of Folk's Palace.

The body had been wrapped in a bed sheet, classic sign of an unplanned murder. The fact that the body was naked and that there were signs of consensual sex pointed to an act of passion, or getting caught up in the moment. The young man in the dumpster was blonde, white blonde, and he was wearing cheap plastic handcuffs around his wrists. The kind that if you pulled too hard they would snap in half. Nick stopped when he first saw it because his first thought was Greg. The body resembled his young buddy vaguely, and he had to shake his head to clear the image of Greg lying broken in the alley he'd been beaten in.

When he had finished his recon, he moved in to process the body itself. He had to hurry because Super Dave had called to say he was on his way to take it. There was plenty of evidence hanging around on the body itself, and even more on the sheets. After Dave had come and taken the body, he rummaged through the dumpster for anything else that the perp might have thrown in there, but came up with nothing. So, with nothing else for him to do here, Nick headed back to the lab and made a beeline for the coffee pot. He'd been right that falling asleep early would not be good; he was already tired, and he knew he had to go hang out with his family later. He grinned automatically when Greg sauntered in, but stopped when he took note of the nervous expression.

"What's up G?" he asked. Greg coughed and busied himself with getting a coffee.

"One of your sisters showed up at my scene today," he started without looking up. "She was walking by, saw the crowd, saw me, yelled across the tape to say hi." Here he paused and looked up. "Jenna has quite the voice doesn't she?"

"That she does," Nick chuckled in agreement. "So is that it? She said hi?" Greg quickly ducked his head again, ostensibly searching through the cupboards for a creamer, even though Nick knew he only took sugar and milk in his coffee. He had something to say that he didn't really want to say.

"No, no there's more," Greg was looking more and more nervous by the second. "She um, well it turns out she left her purse at our place last night and she and Chad had to come back for it. They…saw us sleeping on the couch…I told her about your nightmares…" he looked anywhere in the room but Nick, stirring his coffee absently and trying to avoid twitching madly. He knew he was failing, but he really didn't want Nick to be angry with him. He almost started out of his skin when the big Texan chuckled at him and ruffled his hair.

"Ah G you got nothing to be worried about, I ain't mad." His southern twang was suddenly heavy in his voice and he noticed Greg shudder at his words, why he had no clue. But he stopped twitching so Nick figured it was just a release of tension. The blonde shot him a wild, slightly off grin and practically ran away, saying something about some evidence. Nick watched him go, and was still staring at the doorway when Sara walked in a few minutes later. She was looking behind her with a frown and Nick asked what was up with her.

"I think Greg has finally lost his mind," she declared. Nick raised one of his eyebrows. "I just walked past him leaning against a wall with his eyes rolled in the back of his head. And you know what he was muttering? He said 'stupid voice'. I think he's cracking Nicky, you're going to have a crazy roommate." Nick laughed uproariously as she continued to tell him that Greg was loosing it. They discussed his general craziness until he appeared back in the room and asked what was so funny. Sara skipped away looking smug and Nick just asked it he was ready to go home.

When they got there, Greg cooked dinner and Nick called his family. They were just waking up, but he taunted Michelle in to wakefulness and she went to rouse the rest to come over. They arrived just as the two men were finishing their steak and eggs dinner. Nick prepared himself for a multitude of questions about his nightmares, and was suspicious when no one mentioned anything. Knowing Jenna like he did, it was pretty unlikely that she would keep that kind of information to herself. But there were no comments, and no questions, so Nick relaxed and began to think that maybe she had finally learned to keep her big mouth shut.

Greg sat in the kitchen, watching Nick. The older man was obviously getting more and more tired, and he looked on the verge of just falling asleep on the couch. Greg wondered why nobody seemed to notice and take the hint. He looked beside him and studied his friend's parents, and noted how closely they also watched their son. They seemed to be waiting for something. Mamma caught his eye and smiled a grim smile.

"How often does he have these nightmares you were telling Jenna about?" she asked in a low voice. Greg raised a brow. He'd known Jenna wouldn't keep it a secret.

"Once a week; the bad ones only come around once every few months." Greg let his mind wander as he divulged this information, thinking of the dreams that haunted his friend and him. Although they were about very different situations they produced similar results. Both men awoke sweating and screaming, in need of the comfort of each other's arms. "He's likely to have one tonight, since I got him thinking of it when I mentioned I told Jenna." He looked at his hands, not thrilled that he was soon to be the cause of pain. Mamma was nodding along.

"I need to see how this is affecting my boy," she declared out of nowhere. Greg looked at her uncomprehendingly, not having a clue as to what she was getting at. He looked around again to see Nick's eyelids drooping even though he was in the middle of saying something to his sister. He looked like he was ready to pass out. Mamma's voice broke in on Greg's observations. "We'll be staying. I need to see how bad these nightmares are." Her declaration made Greg's head whip around to stare her in the eye incredulously.

She had to be kidding! There was no way any kind of mother, especially one as good as her, would want to see their kid like that. But her face remained adamant, and behind her, Cisco's face was stony and resolute. Greg swallowed and tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't budge. As a last ditch attempt to save Nick from this embarrassment, he turned to find a way to keep him up. He was just a little too late.

When he turned, he saw Rose, the youngest girl, cooing over how cute Nick was as he lay fast asleep, conked out right in the middle of her sentence. She waved her hand in front of his face and gently called his name, but got no response other than soft breathing, making her grin indulgently. Greg swallowed again. This couldn't be happening! He knew exactly what he needed to do to bring Nick down from his panic attack, but he didn't know how they would react to that. He dropped his head in to his hands and groaned. All he could do now was wait, and hope that Nick didn't actually have a bad dream. Not that he held out much hope for that. The man ran like clockwork, and it had been over a week since the last time. It would happen whether either of them wanted it to or not.


	7. Chapter 7

The apartment was far from silent, but all Greg heard was the distant buzzing of the myriad voices as he stared at Nick on the couch, just waiting for the nightmares to come. He had tried again to ask Mamma and Cisco to reconsider, but they insisted that they needed to see how their son was being affected by the work he so loved. Greg fell to chewing the inside of his lip nervously, tearing away a layer of skin before he noticed he was even doing it. That would hurt like a bitch later.

When he saw Nick's lips start to move, forming soundless words, he hoped to whatever deity was listening that it was just an every day dream. But then his dark brows had furrowed and he had frowned as he slept, and his soundless words became indecipherable slurred murmurs.

"He's…it's starting…" he said quietly, the words feeling heavy and awkward on his tongue. It felt so weird. He wondered if anyone knew just how hard it was for him to sit idly by and let this happen. Usually if he could prevent this, he would. But having to just watch without doing a thing actually hurt him. He wondered if Nick would be mad when he found out, or if he would be embarrassed, or what. There was no telling.

The mutterings falling from the sleeping man's lips gained in volume, and they were able to pick out words like 'dark' 'glass' and 'buried'. It was all too clear which dream he was having. The rooms slowly went quiet as each person became aware of Nick's growing unease. His head turned once in protest of something and he was giving off scared little noises, still lying slumped in the corner of the couch. Greg watched from his spot in the kitchen.

Then suddenly he went on high alert when Nick's hand twitched. The fingers clenched and flexed repeatedly before the whole arm moved as if trying to shake something off. Greg half stood in his seat with a quiet "oh shit" escaping him. It was going to be one of his worst. Nick began to whimper, and was quickly getting louder. His hands were suddenly flying all over his arms, trying to wipe away something that existed only in his own memories. His feet lightly kicked out. He was struggling inside his coffin, taking himself back to the feeling of being trapped and eaten alive by a million fire ants.

Then before Greg could do anything else, Nick let out a piercing scream, crying 'no!' and his whole body twisted, panic overriding his system. His sisters gasped and stepped back reflexively as his fell off the couch. On the floor he began screaming at the top of his lungs, twisting frantically and convulsing. He cried out in protest and begged to god for help.

"Shit! Shit! Are you happy now?" Greg yelled at the parents sitting wide-eyed beside him before he finally leapt in to action. He was across the kitchen and in to the living room in five giant steps, hauling Nick to his feet. The man thrashed and kicked out wildly, but Greg held his waist from behind. "Nick! Nick!" he tried, he really did, but his voice just wasn't registering in his friend's nightmare ridden mind. So Greg threw caution to the winds and did the one thing that never failed: he bit him. Pearly white teeth sank through the black t-shirt and deep in to tanned flesh. Nick woke with a shout, but not of pain.

For a few moments he continued to struggle, not completely free of the feeling of being trapped in a Plexiglas box. Greg called his name a few times before it got through, but he continued to shiver and breathe heavily, looking around wildly without actually seeing anything. Greg kept a tight hold on his waist, keeping them pressed tightly together and whispering calming things in his ear. It worked only minimally, and the blonde resigned himself to having to explain things later as he started singing.

_Lay down your head little Nicky  
Rest in your bed darling dear  
Memories cling to everything  
But always remember I'm here_

The fight went out of the older man, though he was still violently shaking and breathing like he'd run a marathon. He turned in Greg's arms and buried his face in the crook of the blonde's neck as reassuring hands ran soothingly around his back and wound in his hair.

_Close your sweet eyes little Nicky  
Let go your fears from your mind  
Nightmares will come I don't know where from  
But comfort in my arms you'll find_

Greg slowly stepped back to the couch and sat them both down. Nick immediately curled in to a ball in his lap and he held his precious bundle with the utmost care, singing a bit louder for him. His breath was starting to come at a more normal pace, and Greg tried to squeeze away his tremors.

_Lay down your head little Nicky  
I'll hold you safe to my heart  
Never you fear, 'cause Greggo is near  
And nothing can tear us apart_

Finally Nick let a tear escape his eye, just one, and he felt the tension start to slip away. Greg sang his lullaby again, louder, and he closed his eyes and let the words drift over him comfortingly. Then Greg started it once more, softer than the first time, and he felt Nick finally let go and fall back asleep. His mouth closed and his body released its curled position. For a few seconds Greg sat with the man stretched out across him, just gazing at that perfect, haunted face. Then he maneuvered himself out from under him, laying him comfortably across the couch. When he moved away Nick unconsciously reached out for him, and he laced their fingers together. It soothed the Texan, and he stopped moving, so Greg laid the hand back down and turned away.

The sisters clustered near the doorway scurried to create a path for him as he walked by, and he knew that 9 sets of eyes watched him as he collapsed in to his chair at the kitchen table, dropping his head down on the wooden surface. It a way he wished that when he opened his eyes they would all be gone, and he wouldn't have to face their inquiries, but when his head came back up they were still watching him. He just stared at the table and waited, refusing to be the first to break the silence. If they wanted explanations, he wasn't going to give them out for free. Eventually, it was Chad who spoke up.

"You love him…don't ya?" he asked, his voice quiet. "You're…you're in love with him." Greg tore his eyes from the table and forced himself to meet this burly man's gaze. He could see out of the corner of his eyes, they were all hanging on the silence, waiting for his answer. He gave it to them straight.

"Yes," he admitted in a weary tone. "For five years. But…I…you can't say anything. It's as much for his protection as mine that I've kept my mouth shut." He could see Chad nodding, although he didn't fully understand yet.

"What do you mean by that?" Jenna asked from somewhere to his left. Greg turned his head in her direction, but he found himself speaking to the floor. All these things he had, in a small way, hoped to one day tell Nick to his face. But his common sense had told him that it would never happen, and he'd known it was true.

"I mean that he needs me as much as I need him. And if he found out about my feelings, it could ruin what we have. I can't do that to him. I can't leave him alone." His head swung forward again and he watched his own two hands twisting the hem of his shirt. Mamma and Cisco were silent, and he desperately wished he knew what was going on in their heads. Had he just screwed up their good opinion of him? Being gay was one thing; they could accept it as long as they remained aloof from it. But him being in love with their son might not be something that they could ignore.

Mamma brought her hands on to the table and steepled them together, gazing at them as intensely as Greg gazed at his own. Her face was unreadable, but it looked like she was deep within a difficult though. Everyone waited patiently for her words, even Cisco. The Judge had a completely blank expression, neither approving nor disapproving until he saw what his wife thought of all this. Mamma moved her steepled fingers apart and clapped the tips together again.

"I think…on some level…he loves you too dear," she finally said. Greg almost fell out of his seat, but caught himself at the last moment. His own hands stop fiddling with each other and rubbed at his temples as he asked her not to say that. "But dear, look how he-" Greg cut her off before she could go any farther.

"Please Mamma, don't hurt me anymore than he already does," he begged her. She looked taken aback but he didn't pause to care about that. "Now, I think you guys should go have a fun touristy day. I'm going to watch over him and try to sleep myself." Greg didn't listen to a single protest, just ushered them all out the door and tried to avoid Mamma's fathomless eyes. When they were gone he slumped against the wall and dragged his hands down his face. She'd managed to say the one thing he had never allowed himself to think. None of this meant anything; he knew that for a hard solid fact.

Greg dropped himself in front of Nick on the couch, in front of his head, and leaned back against the coffee table. It wasn't the most comfortable position ever. Ok so it was probably the most _un_comfortable position he'd ever tried to sleep in. But the things he would endure for Nick were boundless. As he sat and stared at the older man, he began to wonder just what Nick would do for _him_. And why did that question fill him with a sudden wave of doubts?

Nick's eyes snapped open all of a sudden, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He groaned and brought both his hands up to steady his poor, spinning head, wondering why he had woken in such a weird way. Then he stopped when he realized he was on the couch and he didn't recall his family leaving the night before. Although he did recall a doozie of a nightmare and the sound of his lullaby. His head turned to the side a little and he immediately broke in to a warm smile when he saw Greg there, his silent guardian throughout the night. His back objected when he sat up, so he spent a bit of time twisting and stretching, loosening the muscles. Then he leaned forward on his knees and considered the man before him.

Greg's hair had grown a bit too long, he noted. It hung in front of his eyes, the perfect mismatch of dark chocolate brown and sunny yellow blonde. His pale skin was a smooth creamy white, unblemished by tan or burn. Nick took a second to look down at his own dark skin, then held his hand out next to Greg's face, just to see the contrast. It was shocking that he'd never noticed it before, just how different they looked, yet how well they looked next to each other. The shirt that Greg was wearing was tight, and it outlined just how well his body had taken to working out. Large biceps stretched out the armholes and his chest pressed out the material in front. Nick imagined he could almost see the abs he knew were there outlined as well.

The jeans Greg had been wearing were slung low on his hips, riding down even more from sleeping on the floor all night, and they revealed the top of his silk boxers, the ones with Homer Simpson on them. Nick looked back up to consider Greg's face. In repose he always managed to look so innocent, like he hadn't seen half the things he had. Nick was slightly jealous. He knew his own face had already picked up laugh lines, and that he didn't look half as saintly as the man in front of him.

And even without having them open, Nick could picture the deep liquid brown eyes that he had sought comfort in so many times. They were expressive in a way the Texan had never seen before. When Greg wanted something they could be so big and shiny he resembled a cartoon character. When he was sad or angry they would darken to an almost black cast and assume this barrier that Nick always felt the urge to break down. When he was happy, they almost sparkled with life. They were, to be sure, fascinating. And Nick could picture them from memory in every emotion in the rainbow.

After a while he leaned back in his seat, his eyes still not leaving Greg, and he suddenly questioned why he was sitting here studying him so closely. He knew what Greg looked like; he'd been seeing him almost every day for the last seven years. Why did he feel the need to conduct some sort of reevaluation now? It came to him slowly that he'd been having a lot of odd feelings towards him lately, and he didn't understand them at all. Maybe he should sit down sometime soon and try to figure out just what they were, so maybe things could go back to normal.

"Nick, pay attention!" a voice broke through his reverie. He was at the lab now, his mind still on the observations he'd made about Greg earlier that night. He shook his head to clear his thoughts away and apologized to Grissom, trying to focus on what was being said about the blood spatter photos they were examining. He'd been zoning out all day, his mind always returning to the same thing. He would find himself wondering what Greg was doing, then wonder why he was wondering about Greg, and then he would start wondering about everything else. This was the first time he'd been called on it though. Despite how happy Grissom was that his plan was going well, he couldn't afford a fluffy-headed CSI.

Nick tried to stay concentrated for the rest of the night, but it was hard. What made it hard was that Greg kept walking by and casting him these really big smiles that made his heart warm up a little. It was a slow night, so the blonde was spending his shift bouncing between helping the new DNA tech and helping Catherine with her case. Every time he passed the evidence room Nick was in he would turn his head and grin, and Nick's concentration would be scattered again. The frustrating part was he had no idea why.

He tried to keep his distraction from his supervisor, unaware that Grissom was watching him like a hawk and smiling every time he drifted away from the photos in front of them. He was so far away once that he didn't even notice his boss sending a bunch of texts on his cell. By the time he was back on earth Gil was just starting to say something about the direction of the fall on a certain droplet and he tried his best to listen carefully.

Hours later he was blowing air out of his mouth slowly and staring up at the ceiling, wishing for the distraction of Greg, who had been called out to a scene. Nick and Grissom had made a major breakthrough, and since there was nothing else to do he'd been sent home early. So here he sat with his older brother, wishing to be anywhere else. They were arguing over the same petty things they argued over every time they saw each other; things like whether or not he would ever come back to Texas. Chad was ranting on about something he had stopped paying attention to because he had dropped his head back and started counting the scratches in the ceiling. How had they gotten there?

"God you're the most clueless guy I've ever met!" Chad was saying. Nick closed his eyes and tried harder to ignore him. He had hoped that maybe this time they could avoid the fights, but his brother had sought him out for just this reason, coming over without anyone else so he could get in Nick's face. "I mean you've got to be blind if you can't see any of this." His head dropped forward and he looked at his brother disinterestedly, standing in front of the television set.

"See what?" he asked wearily, giving in to the inevitable. They would shout and wave their arms at each other like always and then Chad would be the one to storm out and come back later, laughing like nothing had happened. Right now he was throwing hands up in the air in exasperation, glad that Nick was finally paying attention to him.

"Greg, you idiot," he cast back. Nick's attention immediately tunneled on to the first word and he sat up a little straighter. Oh he was interested now.

"What about Greg?" Nick saw Chad roll his eyes and he glared, preparing himself to beat the information out of the much bigger man. They hadn't physically fought since they Nick was a headstrong teenager, but he'd be willing to break that truce if it had something to do with his quirky roommate.

"Seriously you're that dumb?" Chad said snidely, purposefully trying to goad Nick in to some semblance of understanding. "Fine I'll lay it out for you. The guy is _gay_. You already knew that. Have you seen the way he acts around you?" Nick stood up from his seat, anger flashing in to his eyes. How dare he suggest something like that about his Greg! He had no idea what he was talking about.

"There's absolutely nothing inappropriate about how he acts around me," Nick insisted through clenched teeth. Chad laughed ironically at him.

"Oh come on. He watches you all the time. He stands way too close to you. He always has something to say about you. You've got to see where I'm going with this Nicky!" He held out his hands, imploring Nick to follow his train of though, but Nick slapped the hands down.

"You're reading in to this way too much Chad," he said stubbornly. Chad threw his hands in the air again and gave vent a frustrated yell.

"So is he!" he shouted. "God damn it, Nick, the guy's in love with you!" They both stilled. Chad dropped his hands to his sides, not having meant to say that. Nick stared at him with wide eyes and suddenly found it very hard to breathe. It was ridiculous. It wasn't true. It was…pretty much reasonable and not at all hard to believe. But Nick didn't want to believe that. He wanted to continue being best friends with Greg and continue living with him in peace and for nothing to change. This, this would change things.

He opened his mouth to protest, to say that Chad had it wrong, but he couldn't find the words to say it. He just stood there and stared in to his brother's eyes and fought for breath, fought against the soaring feeling sweeping through his chest. Then both of them looked over as the front door opened and Greg stepped in, dropping his kit beside Nick's. He bent to untie his converse shoes then straightened again to kick them off. When he spotted the two men in the living room he face broke in to a million-watt smile and his sight zeroed in on Nick.

"Hey, you enjoy your free time?" he asked. Nick couldn't answer. All he could think of was yesterday evening when he'd woken and studied Greg so closely. All he could see was how innocent and painfully beautiful the younger man appeared all of a sudden. The shift in his brain was subtle, but it scared the hell out of him. He didn't know how to deal with it. He watched Greg stop smiling and start looking between them with worry, and still he couldn't say a thing. It wasn't true, was it? "Nick what's wrong?" that smooth as silk voice drifted in to Nick's ears again and he could hear the near panic quality to it.

"We're just having a little disagreement Greg, nothing big," Chad answered for him. Greg looked back and forth, unconvinced, but he nodded slowly and retreated, letting them have their privacy. He moved in to the kitchen where he could be heard heating something up, then he moved father away and holed up in his bedroom, closing the door. When he was safely out of earshot, Nick finally found the will to speak.

"You're wrong," he choked out to his brother, who crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow.

"Maybe," he acknowledged calmly. "But he's not. And he's the one who admitted to it." He gave his younger sibling one last meaningful look, then left to tell the family to leave Nick alone for today. They had two weeks left of vaycay; they could afford to let him have time to think today. Nick stayed frozen on the spot for a long time, lost in his on head. Then he very slowly made his way down the hall to Greg's room.

The door was shut, and it looked wrong. It looked wrong because they never shut their doors; they were never too busy for each other. Nick twisted the handle as quietly as he could and pushed it open a little, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend before he was noticed standing there. Greg was sitting at his cluttered desk, forehead resting on one fist as he stared blankly at the myriad things covering the desktop. Nick knew that, over the years, the desk had been completely ruined by Greg's ADHD. Small pencil doodles were drawn in random places and knife etchings marred the wood. Burn marks from short attention spans around candles decorated one corner, and another was actually broken off from when Greg had accidentally crashed in to it once. Nick realized he knew more about Greg's desk than he did about Catherine or Sara or Warrick. That thought disturbed him.

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly, startling the blonde man out of his reverie. He received a closed smile and his stomach clenched.

"Worrying about you," Greg divulged. "And wondering what it might have been like to grow up with siblings to fight with." He grinned and Nick recognized the defense tactic. It took attention away the face that he was worried, and people got caught up in the joke, taking him less seriously. It was odd because he usually complained about people not taking him seriously. But it worked anyway, because Nick just had to ask.

"What was it like growing up an only child?" Greg smiled again and leaned away from the desk, pushing his chair until it stood on its two back legs precariously.

"My mom spent so much time protecting me she kind of forgot about actually paying attention to me. My dad didn't really have much to do with me in the first place." He shrugged, and Nick had no idea why he had never asked about Greg's family before. He talked about his own all the time, more than he really should apparently, if Greg could name all his sisters at first sight. Or maybe Greg listened too carefully to just care about him as a best friend should. With a confused sigh Nick came forward and started absently shuffling through the things on the desk.

Papers galore shifted around; bills, letters, doodles, etc. Pens pencils and markers floated around in the mess at random, and so did things like paperclips and sticky notes. An old novel was uncovered right next to an old tin of mints. Greg didn't seem to care that he was rifling through his things until Nick's finger brushed against thick, professional photo paper and he pulled it out from under the mass of crap covering it. The blonde's eyes went really wide and he squeaked in surprise, obviously not knowing it was there. He made a grab for it but Nick grinned and lifted it out of his reach, turning his head and inspecting what he'd found. His hear almost stopped in his chest then.

The picture he'd found was of Greg, but Nick had never seen Greg like this. The blonde had no shirt on, and the sweat on his smooth pale torso glistened in bright sunshine as he leaned against the corrugated metal side of a barn. His jeans were covered by black leather chaps, and he wore dusty cowboy boots on his feet. One hand came up, extending a single finger to tip up the black Stetson on his head so he could barely peek out from underneath with his beautiful brown eyes. The expression on his face was pure sexual tension as he stared directly at the camera, lips slightly parted and gaze smoldering. Nick gulped hard and tried very hard to ignore the way his pants were suddenly uncomfortably tight. He was _not_ turned on by this.

"Greg, where the hell did this come from?" he choked out. It couldn't be too old because there was a faint scar trailing down the left of his torso and Nick knew that that scar had come from being thrown through the lab walls, and that it had only faded to that faintness around two years ago. Greg swallowed too, in nervousness, but didn't try to retrieve the picture again.

"Uh…remember when I went to visit my folks a couple summers ago? I kind of became a guinea pig for my friend's photography obsession. She was trying to win some sort of contest, so she took all sorts of pictures like…like that…I still got them all…I thought I'd hidden that one too." He twitched and Nick took another long look at the picture. The next words flew out of his mouth before he could think about it. He didn't even realize he'd said them until he felt a smirk forming on his own face and saw Greg's uncertain expression.

"Let me see 'em," he had said. Greg hesitated and said something about it being no big deal but Nick heard himself urging the younger man to fetch the hidden pictures, not really knowing why he wanted to see it so bad. Finally Greg got up and rummaged within the bottom of his closet, throwing aside the suitcase that had once again buried itself there. When he stood he was clutching a plain blue binder that had 'Album' printed across the front, with Greg's messy scrawl of 'Greg's' above that in black marker. He looked at Nick nervously for a minute before shyly handing it over. Nick tried to hide the fact that his fingers were shaking and that he was much too eager to see what else was in here.

There must have been about thirty more, each a different scene or theme. It depicted him in all moods. One photo had him laying in a field playing with the wheat being blown in the wind. One had him standing in the middle of a crowded bus station looking for all the world like he was the only person there. In another he smiled up at the stars as if they held all of his secrets. But the one that Nick stopped on was taking on a cliff with a tumbling shoreline beneath it. Greg sat on the cliff and the picture was taken on such an angle so that you could see a sliver of his face and the whole of his back, riddled with deforming scars. Nick involuntarily ran his finger down the scars.

"She called that one 'Silent Pain' or something," Greg said from beside him. "I thought it was because of my back but she said something about the look on my face. I guess I was thinking of…err…well I'd been thinking of something that was making me feel pretty low when she snapped the shot. She didn't even set that one up; we were cliff jumping and she just happened to see an opportunity." The blonde shrugged and looked down, fiddling with his fingers. Nick nodded and kept flipping through the rest of the album.

"Did she win?" he asked finally. Greg looked confused.

"Win what?"

"The contest, you said she wanted to enter some of these in a contest. Did she win anything?" He closed the album at last and handed it over as Greg let a secret smile cross his face and nodded. "Which one did she win with?"

"Two actually. The cowboy one and the silent pain one. Your two apparent favorites." Nick's stomach did a back flip as Greg boldly wiggled his eyebrows. Then he yawned loudly and stretched, falling backwards on to the bed. Without even opening his eyes he reached out and grabbed Nick's belt loop with amazing accuracy, pulling him down too. They both lay fully clothed for a while, wrapped up in the familiarity, until Nick felt uncomfortable and had to shuck his jeans. Greg did the same, pulling off his shirt as well. Then he picked up the alarm clock on the side table and threw it at his light switch, actually managing to flick it off, and they were cast in to a peaceful darkness.

Nick didn't even close his eyes though. He lay on his side, Greg curled up behind him, and stared at nothing. A million thoughts were fighting for domination inside his head and yet he could focus on none of them, leaving his mind completely blank. He could feel the lukewarm heat of Greg pressed against his back and involuntarily was reminded that Greg got cold easily because he had low body heat. Why did he know that? Because Greg climbed in with Nick complaining of the cold much more often than Nick did it to him. That and Nick had once taken his temperature and found it below normal.

Then that and every other thought were gone as Greg shifted and his breathing spilled over Nick's neck in an explosion of sensitivity. He shifted himself and felt his face heat up when his boxers suddenly began tenting with no discernable cause. Greg shifted again behind him and an arm was casually thrown around his waist, accidentally brushing against him impromptu camping gear. Nick thought he might die from mortification and had just opened his mouth to give a bad excuse when he heard a soft chuckle and a fond whisper.

"Well now, someone's having a good dream," Greg was saying as if he thought Nick were already asleep. Nick finally closed his eyes and squeezed them tight. No I'm not, he thought. I'm having a very bad nightmare in which I no longer have any idea of what is going on in my life.


	8. Chapter 8

A week went by, and Greg was polite enough not to ask what Nick and Chad had been fighting about. He was curious of course, but figured that it had nothing to do with him so it wasn't his business to pry in to family matters. He did, however, almost kill his best friend when the Texan stole his cowboy picture, blew it up, and posted it in the lab break room without him knowing. He'd had to explain around a very dark blush why he of all people would have a picture like that. A couple people asked to see the rest of his collection but he refused to bring the folder in. Showing it to Nick had been hard enough.

He didn't see much of the older man though, because his family took up most of his time, taking him out to touristy spots and milking their time with him for all they were worth. Greg tried to make the most of it and savor the moments he got in between work and family, but those also seemed scarce for some reason, almost like Nick were avoiding him. He hoped that wasn't the case. He began to think that maybe showing Nick those pictures wasn't such a great idea, but quickly quelled that thought. That couldn't be it. Nick was better than that. So what was it?

By the middle of the second week Greg resigned himself to waiting until the Stokes family had returned to Texas before he would find out why his roommate was suddenly acting so aloof. Instead of pining away he threw himself in to work, trying hard to distract himself from the constant yearning to cross the hall between bedrooms and fall in to warm comfort. It didn't work well, but he got a lot done. Warrick asked him if he were ok at some point but he brushed off the man's concerns. He didn't feel like sharing these worries.

Warrick had also asked if he knew what was wrong with Nick because apparently he had been spacing out a lot in the last while, always a deep thoughtful expression on his face, but Greg had only shrugged and said he was probably thinking of something to do with his family. He didn't want to admit that he didn't know. That would be to admit that maybe Nick was finally pulling away like Greg had always feared – known – he would. The fight could have been about his not having settled down with a good woman yet, and maybe he was finally going to try and do just that. Greg shuddered when that thought came up and almost ran to Grissom's office, desperate for a difficult case to turn his brain away from that trail of thought.

Last Friday had brought Warrick over with beer, and he was very surprised to find Greg home alone. Nick was out with his family, somewhere on Fremont Street, and the blonde was for once glad that his friend had brought beer. He actually drank this time, more than just one or two, and by the time Nick actually came home he was snoring in the hallway, hand clenched over his heart in an awkward way. Like he was trying to claw it out. Warrick was nowhere in the apartment by then, so the Texan had put him in bed and pretended that he'd slept there all night.

Now it was Friday again, but neither one of them were home. They were both on their way to the airport so that the Stokes and Maverick could return to their ranch. Greg wasn't sure how he managed it, but he was pretty such he'd done something good in a past life to deserve the miracle that neither Mamma, Cisco, Jenna, nor Chad were in the Jetta with him. Instead, he chatted easily with Tessie all along the interstate, with Rose Michelle and Marie talked up a storm behind him. He was regaled with all sorts of stories about their adventures in Las Vegas, and was very glad that this meant he didn't need to contribute anything but the occasional fake laugh. He didn't really feel like talking.

He came in the airport to say goodbye to everyone and get his farewell kisses from Mamma. Then he shook hands with Cisco and Chad and he headed back to his Jetta and drove home, leaving Nick to wait with his family for their plane. The ride back was quiet for a while, but he almost drowned in the silence, so for the rest of the way his radio screamed in his ears and very effectively cut off any thought. No one, not even Warrick, had ever figured out that this was the reason he liked loud music. It made thinking impossible, which meant he had a temporary reprieve from his problems with Nick.

Two hours after he got home he heard the front door open. He'd gone straight to his room and laid spread eagle over top the covers, wishing he were anyone else just for a day. Nick's keys made a clatter as they dropped on the floor beside their two kits, and his footsteps were soft as he padded down the hallway. The bedroom door opened and he stood framed in the meager light leaking out of the kitchen.

"Greggo?" he whispered softly, and Greg smiled involuntarily.

"Wide awake Nicky," he told him in a normal voice. He could see Nick smile, then his eyes took on a mischievous glint that very rarely showed up. Greg had time to worry before Nick had suddenly leapt on to the bed, straddled his hips to pin him down, and began tickling him mercilessly. He let out a surprised shout and tried desperately to buck the older man off, but to no avail; the tickle torture continued and it almost felt like things were going to be normal again.

And then, horror of horrors had struck. Nick just looked so beautiful with that laughing smile on his face and he was sitting in a very precarious spot. Greg couldn't help himself. He was quickly becoming aroused in a way that his drunken date had not even been able to come close to provoking. This was Nick though, his biggest weakness and his biggest crush. His secret love. His screams of protest suddenly took on a desperate and panicked tone as he fought harder against the flickering fingers running up and down his sides.

"Nick, you have to get off me right now!" he declared as soon as the man on top of him slowed his movements enough that he could suck in the breath to talk. Instead of complying, he just stopped tickling and furrowed his brows. Not the reaction Greg had been hoping for.

"What's wrong G?" he asked. Greg closed his eyes and tried to stop himself from huffing like a bellows, but it wasn't going very well.

"You just, you have to get off me Nick, right now," he insisted. "Get off!" But Nick didn't get off. He leaned down and pulled up Greg's shirt to see if there was anything wrong. As he did that Greg thought he might explode because Nick's groin was swaying dangerously lower, closer to discovering something big. And very hard.

"Did I hurt you?" he was asking. Greg whimpered and shook his head, knowing he was helpless. He was too weak to buck the man off, that had been tried and tested, and asking wasn't getting him anywhere. Just as he was about to try pushing Nick so he fell backwards and away, Nick leaned forward again to ask what was the problem. And he swayed too low. Greg stopped breathing, and he felt Nick go oh so still. And he knew that he had been caught, so he started babbling like he did sometimes when nothing coherent filled his head but panic.

"I'm sorry. It's just…um…it's been so long…and you're just there…and you were wiggling…and oh my god I'm sorry Nick. I tried to warn you…I just…I tried to stop…oh fuck…" Greg squeezed his eyes even tighter and prayed for a lightening strike. Nothing came, so he hoped to perhaps die of embarrassment. That never came either.

With a great deal of fear, he opened his eyes and was met with Nick's shocked gaze. He hadn't moved from where he'd frozen. He still straddled Greg's hips, his own a little too low, and his arms held up his weight, hands planted on either side of the lithe Californian below him. He was wide-eyed and slack jawed and Greg couldn't help but think it just made him look cute. The silence stretched out for what seemed like forever, weighing on the younger man's chest in a way that he hadn't felt in a couple weeks. And then another unthinkable happened. Nick's jaw closed and his eyes half lidded, then he leaned in agonizingly slowly and pressed his mouth to Greg's.

Too shocked to respond, he just laid there, his own eyes now as big saucers, and thought that perhaps he really had died from embarrassment, because in the real world this didn't happen. In the real world this only happened when Nick was hazy with drink, but he didn't smell like alcohol, just mint and the tobacco from Cisco's pipe. When he pulled away again his eyes were searching Greg's, seeming to delight in the astonishment they found there.

"Kiss me Greg," Nick whispered, only an inch away. Greg shuddered.

"That's not fair," he whispered back. "I'm too weak to do anything but say yes to you." And then he had surged up and claimed Nick's lips again, pressing in to them tightly and moving against them anxiously. The kiss was fevered, and Greg had to hold in his moans, gripping the sheets beneath him to stop his hands from roaming. With the greatest strength any man had ever shown, he managed to break away and drop his head back to the pillow, almost in tears. "Please Nick, I'm so confused," he said, his voice so low it was almost silent. Nick stayed so close his breath was dancing along Greg's face.

"Don't hold back Greg," his disembodied voice came from above. "I…I need to know." Greg opened his eyes and he looked even more confused.

"Know what?" he asked. Nick's gaze pinned him more effectively than body weight ever could.

"I know how you feel about me Greg," he said. "And I've given it a lot of thought these past two weeks. I…I need to know if I can give you everything you want. From me." Greg definitely knew he was dead now. Because Nick Stokes was not saying those things. His head was trying to hurt him again, and damn it, it was working like a charm. A warm pair of lips ghosted just millimeters from his and the words they spoke almost slipped in to his own mouth. "Kiss me Greg, kiss me like you would a lover." Greg gave up then.

His arms came off the bed as a single tear slipped from his eye and rolled sideways on to his temple. One hand wound in to Nick's perfect soft brown hair and pulled him the last bit of the way down. The other clutched as the back of his button up shirt for dear life. A warm tongue slid across his bottom lip and he gasped, immediately opening and entwining his tongue with the one that darted forward to meet him. He moaned in a way he knew was pitiful, but it hurt. It was everything he had ever wanted and it hurt so badly because he didn't understand why he was getting it. And he was convinced he would lose it. Again.

A strong hand lifted away from the bed and caressed the side of Greg's face, gently stroking away the tear that had fallen. A second tear escaped to replace it, followed by a third and a fourth. He cried as they kissed, at the same time moaning from the pleasure of it. A moan that was not his drifted in to his ears but he dismissed it as a figment of his imagination. Or was Nick actually enjoying this? Confused and dangerously in love he threw five years of pent up passion in to this, baring himself to be hurt because maybe this was what he needed to give up. To be broken open and cut down. That would teach him to fall for the one who could never return it. Sharp teeth nibbled at his lip and dragged away from his mouth. Open kisses trailed slowly down the side of his neck and Greg whimpered again.

"I'm so confused," he repeated in a sob, not even trying to resist as the kisses butterflied their way back up his neck and paused to inhale his scent. He took this opportunity, because it might be his last, to also take in the scent of Nick. He'd had always thought that smelling Nick was like inhaling the desert heat and he knew he would be cold inside without it. So he took in as much of that beautiful essence as he could, hoping the memory of it would never fade. Then Nick was backing away and he asked Greg to open his eyes. He stayed leaning in very close.

"Damn it Greg I think I love you too," he said in a scared little voice. Greg froze. "So teach me." It took many long seconds for Greg to find his voice and croak out a small noise that didn't even resemble any word in the dictionary. Was this actually happening? Was he dreaming, or was it finally real?

"Teach you? Teach you what?" he asked, his own voice glazed over with the same fright.

"Everything," Nick replied. "Teach me everything I need to know to keep you happy Greg because I swear I'll do it all. I'll do it all and more to make up for not seeing that you were always exactly what I wanted." His voice shook but remained determined, the way it was when he was saying something that was the honest unchangeable truth. Greg sobbed and one more tear rolled out of his eyes, a happy little disbelieving tear that trailed a hot path down his skin as he regarded the man he had waited so long to love.

"Just you. I only need you. I've always been happy with just you." He whispered shyly, looking Nick right in the eye. The Texan looked a little taken aback, but then those eyes had crinkled in the fond way he'd never realized was love. He leaned in and kissed away that last tear, and they held each other close for a moment before he kissed Greg's lips again, stealing the very air from him and replacing it with the sense of himself. All of those whirling thoughts that had thrown him so far off balance lately finally had settled on to one point. He loved Greg. It was at once very complicated and the simplest thing in the world because he wasn't at all attracted to men, and yet Greg seemed to be the most perfect thing he had ever seen in his life.

A dual moan filled the room as their tongues stroked together and Nick lowered his hips farther in to delicious friction. He rose up and rocked back down again in a deliberate move and gasped at how good it felt. Suddenly he needed more. He needed to know everything there was to know about Greg Sanders, all those things that straight men never get to find out without the help of alcohol. Greg was clutching at him in desperation, his nimble hands everywhere at once, stroking his arms, grasping at his back, tracing across his chest. Nick drove his hands under the blonde's shirt and pushed it up, breaking their deep kiss just long enough to pull it off and toss it across the room. He tried to work his own buttons open but it was taking too long and he whined in frustration.

One of Greg's hands pushed his away and went to work on it's own, popping each button open in seconds. He'd done this before, obviously. Either that or he was even more desperate that Nick was to feel their skin brush together sensually at long last. Suddenly the material was falling open and Greg's hands were all over his skin, reaching and dipping in to every angle, learning every inch. Nick couldn't help himself. He broke their lip lock and sat back to gaze at Greg's chest, reaching out a tentative hand to slowly rest his palm on well defined abs, even more slowly dragging it upwards.

"You have to teach me Greg. I don't know what to do." He could hear the trepidation in his own voice, and he hoped Greg knew it was trepidation of not being good enough. He needed to do this right, because he was sick of making Greg wait. This had to be perfect for him. The younger man smiled up at him with his love shining clear on his face, and his smile was patient, accepting.

"It's instinct Nicky," he reassured the Texan. "You know your body, so essentially you know mine. It's that easy." Nick stared down at him, amazing by the simplicity of it. It made perfect sense. With that in mind he tried to figure out where to start. Looking down at his shyly exploring hand, he knew. A second later he had swooped down and swirled his tongue around a dusty pink nipple, making Greg moan, then cry out in pleasure when he dragged his teeth across it. After that, things blurred and it he was lost in sensations.

His mind fogged over and all he knew was feel of caressing hands, the warm tongue dragging on his skin, the feather light kisses, the chill as a gust of air from the window whispered across his suddenly naked form, the light sheen of sweat covering them both. All he knew was the echo of Greg's moans, the ragged sound of his own name, his own voice calling back, the rasp of skin on skin. All he knew was the salty taste of sweat, the unique taste of Greg that could only be described as wild, the tang of his first taste of precum before he grew nervous and returned to delicious lips. The scent of Greg in the air and the knowledge that he was causing those beautiful expressions, it all went straight to his groin in a heady rush and he was harder than he'd ever been.

And then Greg's legs were falling open and he was settling between them, pressing inside and throwing his head back at how amazing this was, how perfect and how absolutely _right_. But in the next second he knew something that could feel even more right, and he was pulling out and rolling them over. Greg's eyes looked down at him in confusion for a moment, and then shyly he understood. Nick was giving him control, trusting him with something he'd never before entrusted to anyone else.

"Are you sure Nicky? It's going to hurt," Greg warned him, stroking his face. Nick smiled and took a deep breath.

"But only for a moment," he countered. "And then G, I'll be yours. Completely. More than I've ever been anyone's." He caught the small gasp of emotional pleasure that escape Greg, and then he was forcing himself to relax as something cool and wet circled the hole he never thought would be used this way. Greg's finger slipped inside and it felt different, but not in a bad way. In a very good way, as it brushed against something he remembered being referred to as the prostate. Sparks flew behind his suddenly closed eyelids. A second finger slipped inside at his nod and the sensations were only getting better when the third came in to play.

He found himself panting, begging, though he'd never been one to beg. The finger slipped out and he mourned the loss, but then Greg was pressing against him, leaning down to capture his lips and whisper soothingly all at once. Nick relaxed in to it as Greg slid slowly inside of him. He'd been right, it did hurt, and he tightened his grip on Greg's back intensely. That is, until Greg had slid all the way in and he'd managed to brush up against Nick's prostate on the first stroke. He cried out as immediately the pleasure washed away the pain and he needed more.

He begged again, asking Greg to move, and he did so carefully. In and out in a steady rhythm that threatened to drive them both over the brink in to insanity. The sensations building in Nick's spine were like a tidal wave that he couldn't stop if he wanted to, which he didn't. It was more powerful than he'd known was possible. Then suddenly Greg's calloused hand was reaching between them and caressing his cock and he came with a scream that Greg swallowed in a fierce kiss. He felt his own muscles contracting and a warm wetness was spilling inside of him. He'd brought Greg with him, and that knowledge only made his orgasm more intense.

His entire body slumped to the sheets, spent in exhaustion. Greg slid out of him and he accepted that he felt empty without him. Then with a mischievous grin that exactly matched the one that had started this all, Greg crawled a bit closer and licked clean the cum covering Nick's chest. The Texan watched him with mild astonishment, mesmerized by just how fucking _hot_ he found that. He pulled Greg down next to him and in to a searing kiss, trying to say without words how earth shattering that had been. Greg seemed to be saying it right back. They lay panting together, staring in to each other's eyes, perfectly content with the world, until Greg crawled closer and lay his head on Nick's chest. Nick wound his arms around the blonde and held him tight, burying his face in the now damp hair.

"You know," Greg's sleepy voice drifted up to him, "I'm still a little confused. You're still as straight as the Nevada border line Nicky." Nick smirked, because he'd been waiting for this, and he already knew what his answer would be. He'd prepared his answer two days ago when he'd finally decided that this was just what he wanted, but didn't know how to go about getting.

"Well, you know," he said with a smile in his voice, "there is this one spot down in the bottom right corner of the Nevada border line that just isn't straight at all. Very curvy like. I guess you're just my corner Greg." He felt the head lift off his chest and he opened his groggy eyes to look down. He was met with the mother of all smiles and it sparked his own. Soon they were both laughing, but it led to kissing, and suddenly he wasn't so tired after all.

Three weeks later they still hadn't mentioned them to anyone, and Nick knew that Greg was waiting for him to say it was ok. It wasn't that he was scared, because he wasn't anymore. It was that it had taken him this long to figure out just how he wanted to show Greg that he wasn't ashamed. It would have to be carefully staged, but that would be easy because he knew that as soon as the first part of his simple plan had been executed he would yearn towards the second part anyway. In essence, he supposed, all he was really doing was moving what they'd been doing for the last three weeks from the apartment to the office. Or, one part of what they did anyway.

They took his truck that day and he let Greg run ahead to the break room, pretending to be very busy with his case file and saying he would catch up in a couple minutes. He waited the allotted time, bouncing anxiously on his heels, before forcing himself to walk slowly to where he knew the whole team would be. His excuse to leave as planned was all set up. He really did need to go get results from Jacqui, but he needed to do this first. He walked in to the break room very casually and accepted the cup Greg had prepared for him just how he liked it. He stayed for all of two minutes, and then it was time for part one.

"I got to go, I need my print results from Jacqui," he declared loudly enough for the whole room to turn his way slightly. Then, while he still had their attention, he steeled himself and swooped down on Greg. It was a good thing, in retrospect, that the blonde had been sitting on a chair. Because when Nick kissed him so casually in front of all their coworkers, he almost fainted. Then Nick smiled and walked away without a hint of anything out of the ordinary. There was silence left behind him.

"Greg was he drinking before shift?" Warrick asked incredulously after some time without anyone moving had passed. Before Greg could answer though, Nick swept back in to the room with hunger in his eyes.

"You know I thought I could take just one and go," he announced with a feral grin, "but as it turns out I'm wrong. See what you've done? You've gone and gotten me addicted you wily little…" and then he swooped down on Greg again, who was now standing, and pressed him in to the break room wall boldly. Greg moaned involuntarily in to his mouth and it only spurred him on. His hands found their way in to soft blonde spikes and his tongue darted out to sample that wild taste he loved so much.

When he pulled away again they were both breathless. He made a small 'mm' noise and left again, this time actually going to see Jacqui and hoping no one was going to run after him with sharp implements. Greg leaned against the wall and allowed the glazed smile on his face to fill his senses, and happiness to swell inside him, as he realized that Nick had just outed them to the team without a care in the world. He looked at the surprised faces searching his for explanations and couldn't help but laugh out loud, not particularly amused, just so full of joy that it needed an outlet.

"Three weeks I've been waiting to tell you and he goes and does it on his own," he mock complained. "God I love that man." The second statement cancelled out the slight irritation of the first and he knew he had talked in a circle, but he was just too happy to care. Warrick's proud smile was pretty cool to see as the taller man came forward and clapped him on the shoulder, his eyes warm.

"Finally," was all he said before he left to go do the things that CSIs do. Catherine and Sara ran up to hug him, and then he was left alone with his supervisor, a little nervous as to what would happen. Work relationships were officially not allowed, would they be called on it? Grissom suddenly smiled a secret smile.

"Greg you don't have an assignment today but if you could go help Nick on his case that would be great," he said, placing a fond hand on Greg's shoulder, a twinkle in his eye, before he turned away. Greg tried and failed to stop the goofy smile that appeared on his face again. It all made sense all of a sudden. He knew why he and Nick hadn't been put on a case together in so long, he knew why Warrick had decided that Friday came with beer, and he knew why Sara was suddenly so interested in Nick. They had been helping him all along. He laughed again and scurried away to find his _partner_.

Nick was talking to Mandy now, standing inside a glass box in full view of all the other lab rats that might not have heard the news yet. Greg grinned because he could play this game too. He sauntered up behind his lover without a sound, then slipped arms around his waist and rested a head on his shoulder.

"Gris put me on your case," he whispered in to Nick's ear, rewarded with a delightful shudder. Nick turned his head and he was quick to capture those soft lips with his own, right there in from of Mandy, who dropped a test tube. Neither of them heard the sound of shattering glass as they were too wrapped up in each other. By the time they broke apart, the glass walls were lined with lab rats pressed their faces up against it, eyes wide. Nick threw his head back and laughed raucously, and Greg shyly buried his face in Nick's strong shoulder. Mandy bent to sweep together the glass at her feet before standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

"You hurt him and you'll answer to me Stokes," she informed him. "He's waited much too long for you to get a clue." Nick looked her in the eye and knew she was telling the truth. He might be bigger, but at that moment he was convinced that she could kill him and get away with it without much trouble. So he just nodded and backed out of the room, Greg dragged along with him since they were still attached. Outside the room they dodged everyone else and escape in to Nick's truck to go back to his crime scene. The whole way they held hands across the gearshift and kept exchanging secret grins.

After shift they almost flew home, eager to be able to hold each other. As soon as they were in the door Nick found himself pinned to the wall with Greg's mouth seeking his and Greg's hands all over his chest. He loved every second of it. Somehow they made it down the hall and fell in to Greg's bedroom and the heat that was quickly building dissipated in to simply holding each other close, which was just as nice. Nick laid his head on Greg's chest and listened to his strong heartbeat. How had he ever missed the way it sped up when ever he was near? The denial built in to his system had definitely been screwing him over for quite some time.

Nick smiled as Greg tightened his hold and buried his face in Nick's hair, inhaling deeply. Lithe hands dragged through his hair and down his back, once again exploring every patch of him they could find. This seemed to happen every time they were near, Greg caressing him almost reverently. He hummed contentedly and asked Greg why he did that. There was a pause in movement.

"I'm savoring," came Greg's small voice. Nick turned his eyes upwards, unwilling to move, and asked what he meant by those words. Greg looked down at him and sighed a little. "I guess I'm just…waiting for you to leave. You know, wake up and realize that it's me and you and freak out." To his credit, Greg didn't break eye contact while saying this, but his voice belied his terrible fear and Nick frowned. He thought back over the last while and wondered what gave Greg the idea that this wasn't for real. It came to him right away of course. They hadn't told anyone until today. They only fooled around in Greg's bedroom, almost like Greg didn't want to violate Nick's space. They hadn't even talked about where this might go.

"Maybe I haven't been as clear as I'd hoped," he murmured in to Greg's chest. Then he sat up and pulled Greg with him off the bed, waving off the curious glance he received. He walked them together across the hall and pulled a hesitant Greg down on his own bed, gaining a tight grip on the younger man, and reached for the phone next to his bed. Greg watched him bemusedly, but he refused to explain anything as he dialed a series of numbers from heart. The usual five rings sounded, and when someone finally answered he stuck the phone in it's base on speaker phone, so his partner could listen to both sides of the conversation.

"Hi Mamma!"

"_Nicky! How are you darling? Is there something wrong? You're calling rather soon."_

"I'm fine Mamma. Just thought I'd let you know I found someone." He felt Greg stiffen in his arms in surprise and smirked.

"_Why that's just excellent Nicky, what is she like?"_ Nick looked his lover right in the eye as he answered.

"It's Greg Mamma. I finally got a clue. And you can tell Chad if he calls to say he told me so I'll hang up." There was a long, long silence, and Nick almost feared that his Mamma hadn't actually known what he thought she did. Then a slew of different voices came through the speaker.

"_Finally…"_ It was Jenna Chad and Mamma all at once, and his other sisters exclaiming their support. When Nick had stopped laughing he looked down and saw Greg's eyes misting over, filled with love, gratitude, relief, and promises. Nick knew that those promises had been there the whole time, and he found himself eager to see just where they would take him.


	9. Chapter 9

Six months. They had been together for six months. Greg sat and stared at the wall beside the TV, not even caring what they were watching because he was holding a warm body in his arms and a soft pair of lips was dropping a delicate kiss on to his cheek, snuggling closer. It had taken a simple phone call for him to believe that this wasn't a figment of his imagination and Nick wasn't going to break and run. And he'd never been happier in his life.

His arms tightened, just because he was allowed. He could hardly believe all the things he was allowed to do now. It was amazing how easily Nick accepted all of his new behavior. Greg was very much a touch-oriented person, and he was mesmerized that he was allowed to touch Nick when ever and however he wanted now, whether it was to suddenly pull them in to an embrace, or to stroke his arm absently, or to hold him close while they lay on the couch. And he was blown away when Nick did those things for him, throwing arms around his waist as he cooked for them or surprising him in the shower. He'd always thought that if they ever got together he wouldn't be the shy one, but it was quickly turning out that way.

Nick found confidence in knowing exactly what he wanted, and he seemed content with waiting patiently for as long as it took for Greg to finally stop worrying. The day he finally stopped worrying, it was because of something unexpected: a surprise visit from his parents. Nick knew that they weren't on that great of terms, but that they all loved each other very much. So it wasn't such a great shock that they would fly down here for their annual vacation and look Greg up. What was shocking was that they seemed to have the perfect timing for showing up.

The boys were just coming back from a walk, during which they had had to stop three times to ravish each other, not caring about what the public thought. They swung around the side of the house, hand in hand, and laughing uproariously at one of Greg's random antics. Before the laughter could even fade away, Nick felt himself being thrown against the front of their house and being ravished again. He understood Greg's urgency, unable to wait until they were inside, even this close to the door. He gave as good as he got, pulling Greg closer and reveling in the feeling of his silky hair, for once not gelled in all directions.

When Greg moaned in to his mouth he started to think that maybe they should at least make an effort to get inside before they committed public indecency. With a smirk he broke the kiss and opened his eyes to smile gently at his lover, but something caught his attention behind the blonde and he tilted his head to get a better look. An older couple stood there, staring at them with their mouths drawn in to identical o shapes. He was a big enough man that he wasn't snide or snarky, but he politely raised his eyebrows.

"Can we help you?" he asked. Greg turned his head to see what Nick was looking at, and did what can only be called a triple-take. From his vantage point, Nick could see his face light up with unexpected pleasure.

"Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?" he cried out, not in the least bit concerned about what they had been caught doing. Nick felt his stomach clench when he realized that these were Greg's parents. Oh my, he thought, what a great way to meet for the first time. He was sure his straining erection was fairly evident, but there was no way he was going to do anything about it. It wasn't as if they could excuse themselves to go find some relief. The couple standing there closed their mouths with almost perfect precision.

"Gregory darling," his mother greeted him, quickly recovered, "it's been much too long." She bustled forward and hugged her son, either not noticing or not caring that he was still wrapped up in Nick. Greg chuckled and bussed her on the cheek noisily, making her giggle in that cute old woman way. Mr. Sanders gruffly shook his sons hand. Then Mrs. Sanders gave her son a sly wink. "So, who's your friend?" she asked. Nick felt himself flushing, but then Greg's face broke in to a smile and he could see the pride in it.

"This is Nick. Nick these are my parents." It was all too obvious already, but it was the right thing to do. Nick took one hand from his lover's waist to shake hands with the other two, then dropped it to his side, unsure of where to put it. Greg looked between them all, then threw his head back and laughed. "Come inside," he insisted, boldly taking Nick by the hand and leading them all within the ground floor apartment. Once inside he began his classic nonstop chatter, telling his parents all about how they had gotten together and the devious help his friends had provided. Nick was rapt with attention, not having heard that part. The two parents listened with adoring expressions on their face and Nick could tell that they had missed their son very much.

Greg was in his element, juggling his hurried words and a frying pan as he cooked up a stir-fry, asking his parents if they had eaten and continuing to talk without waiting for an answer, just adding more ingredients so there enough for four. His lips almost seemed to stumble over each other as he spoke and his parents sat and watched, soaking up every word like it was precious. Nick had seen Greg do this a million times, get caught up in his excitement and not even realize that no one else was saying anything, but now he could see just how funny it was. And cute. Very cute. When the blonde paused to take a deep breath Nick thought he would jump right back in to rapid-fire speech, but he grinned over his shoulder.

"So what brings you guys to Vegas?" he asked, finally falling quiet. Mrs. Sanders smiled up at him as he stirred the food.

"Why you of course. We couldn't decide between Honolulu and Cameroon for our vacation, so we decided to surprise you. Two years is a long time without a phone call, you know." She looked at the blonde pointedly, but Greg seemed suddenly deeply interested in his stir-fry, and Nick cocked his head without a word.

"But that's not what's important right now!" Mr. Sanders declared in a refined voice. "What I really want to know is how long this one's been around. Last I heard sonny you were pining after some fellow from work!" Greg dropped his spatula and whipped around, and Nick actually fell off his chair. His head smashed in to the wall but it was totally worth it because he was laughing so hard it hurt and Greg's expression was priceless. Kodak moment to be sure.

"_Dad_!" Greg protested with a hint of a mortified whine in his voice. It only made Nick laugh harder. "That was him you…you…fiend!" He confessed, pointing his finger at the laughing beast on the floor and bending to pick up his dropped utensil. The two parents looked over at Nick, who tried so hard to calm down and failed miserably, and Mr. Sanders flushed a deep beet red. It tripped Nick off again and away he went, all control dissolved in to fits of mad giggling as he rubbed the back of his head and checked for an injury out of habit. Greg huffed and turned off the stove, using the excuse of reaching for plates to ignore everyone for a moment.

Nick had calmed enough to get back on his chair by the time the food was served, but he kept snickering around his fork, earning him many annoying glares. Finally he decided that if it were him he'd already be off somewhere sulking in embarrassment by now, so he reached out and took Greg's hand, kissing the knuckles and pulling out his best 'I'm sorry' eyes. Greg's face melted right away and he received a smile for his efforts. Neither one noticed the knowing glance passed between the other two at the table.

After dinner, they took the parents, whom insisted Nick call them Emily and Mark, in to the living room. Greg excitedly showed them the present Nick had gotten him for Christmas and tried to explain to them how epic it was. When he compared it to a rare coin Mark seemed to understand immediately and gave Nick a very warm look. The Texan was taken aback by that, and was so distracted that he allowed himself to be pulled in to Greg's lap without even noticing. By the time he did notice, everyone else was deep in conversation and Mark and Emily had accepted his choice of seating calmly.

He didn't add much to the conversation for their visit, although he answered any question they asked him. When they were gone he dragged Greg in to his bedroom and tossed him on to the bed. The blonde looked surprised but smiled as Nick crawled up between his lithe legs and pressed a kiss to his lips. He moaned unselfconsciously as Nick ground down in to him and deepened the kiss, his hands scrabbling to push Nick's shirt off his shoulders. Nick wasn't really sure when it had come undone. He reached down to pull urgently as Greg's jeans.

"I need you, now," he panted. Greg's eyes flickered with surprise but he didn't hesitate to shuck his pants and quickly worked Nick out of his too. Then his shirt was pulled off and their bare chests were pressing together and their erections ground together through the thin layers of their boxers.

"What's got you so…excited?" the younger man asked breathlessly. Nick ravaged his neck between words as he replied.

"I don't know," he said. "You. You so close and not being able to touch you. I love you." Unable to stop himself Nick pressed their lips together again and cut off any farther words, slipping his hands under the waistband of Greg's boxers and stroking the steel he found inside. He swallowed the resulting moans and urgently tore the garment away, along with his own boxers. They fluttered somewhere to the left but he didn't pay attention because Greg was naked beneath him and this sight had yet to fail to stop him in his tracks. No matter how many times he was treated to this miracle he always paused to drink in the beauty that was his lover. Even his scars were perfect; they added definition and a vivid reality.

Then he met Greg's eyes and lost control. They kissed again, and he had the impression that Greg was trying to tell him something through the act. In the middle of building a wild passionate love scene the fire burned low and suddenly it was tender, caring, and slow. Greg's hands slid over his back and his skin tingled in their wakes. His own hands drifted down smooth sides and over jutting hips, pulling them closer to his own. Their kiss became less fevered and most loving. They moved together deliberately, seeking friction between both their bodies and their hearts.

Then they were connected and Greg had wrapped his legs around Nick to pull him in deeper, their eyes never breaking contact. Nick could feel his hair damp against his forehead, and his lips moving, raining down sweet whispers that fell on Greg and washed away his doubts. He stroked himself in and out of his young lover until he felt a storm building inside. Just as it threatened to spill over he watched Greg close his eyes and clutch the sheets, arching his back of the bed and shuddering around Nick. The sight would have been enough on it's own to bring him to the brink, so with it he let his storm rage and he spilled himself in to Greg.

They collapsed side by side and curled together in a massive tangle of arms and legs. Nick secretly wished he would never have to untangle himself. They lay catching their breath for a while before he felt Greg shifting, propping himself up on one elbow and staring down at Nick, who asked what was wrong. He was ignored for a moment longer. Greg silently ran a reverent hand down the side of his face, in to his hair, down his neck.

"This is real…isn't it?" he said, but it was more of a statement to himself than a question to his partner. Nick asked what he meant and he smiled. "We've both met each other's parents now and told them we were together. That somehow makes me think that this is actually going to last." He ducked his head shyly, but Nick brought it back up with his fingertips.

"And what made you think it wouldn't last before now?" he asked with amusement, knowing that that wasn't really the case. But Greg needed something to prompt him in to continuing his thoughts.

"Nothing but…I'm less afraid now, you know?" Nick smiled and pulled him down in to a hug, resting their foreheads together. He did know, actually. He had kept a careful watch over Greg from that amazing day when Greg had both pushed him away and pulled him closer, and he had dove headfirst in to uncharted waters. He knew all about being scared of relationships, but he had decided before this had even began that this was the one that he was going to give his all to. Without even knowing how he knew, Nick just understood right away that this was what he'd been waiting all his life for. And he was right.

* * *

A/N: I know this chapter is only half as long as the others but this is the last point I needed to get across so there was nothing more to write. I wish the ending were a little better but that was the defining moment, so that's where it ended. Next chapter isn't really a chapter, but a few deleted scenes. Worth reading though.


	10. Deleted Scenes

**DELETED SCENE 1 – GREG AND WARRICK IN BREAK ROOM – CHAPTER 1**

Greg gave a small yelp as he was grabbed, suddenly pulled in to the break room. He heard the door slam shut and the lock click in to place, then he was thrown on to the couch. It took seconds to orient himself again, and he looked up in to the face of Warrick Brown. He had his arms crossed and his face was stern, but worried. Greg tilted his head.

"Um, ow?" he muttered. Warrick didn't apologize for the sudden attack, but sighed and let his dark head fall backwards, taking long deep breaths. Greg was a little worried and he had no idea what was going on until the taller man pulled his head back and sighed again, furrowing his brows.

"You looked…pretty happy Greggo. What did he say?" Warrick's question seemed roundabout, and Greg wondered at the meaning of it. This couldn't be what was upsetting him, could it? But as his conversation by the lockers filled his head he couldn't resist the goofy smile that broke out across his face, or the dreamy look that was probably springing up in his eyes.

"He said I'm the best friend a guy could ask for. You hear that? _Best friend a guy could ask for_." Greg closed his eyes, the dreamy look growing, until he felt Warrick put a hand on his shoulder softly. He knew that touch. Warrick always did that when Greg was having a Nick moment. He opened his eyes and found a pitying look directed at him. He'd had a lot of those from this man as well.

"Greg, you can't do this to yourself," he said in a low voice. "You know he only meant it as it sounded. A _friend_. Don't torture yourself, man, he's not interested. You know that." Greg felt the words drowning out Nick's complement and he found himself grasping for air all of a sudden as he felt the world shift again. His head fell to his chest, his heart deflating from its buoyed feeling and he nodded slowly.

So many times Warrick had been here to stop him making a fool of himself. He thanked the taller man, knowing that he was right yet again. Nick wasn't interested, and he would be an idiot to get his hopes up again. He would just have to go home and act like every thing was fine. He could do that. He'd been doing it for five years after all. Greg stood and squared his shoulders, thanking Warrick again, and reached for the door handle. At least he was a best friend. That was something right? Greg sighed as he opened the door, knowing it would never be enough.

* * *

**DELETED SCENE 2 – GREG AND WARRICK FIGHT IN AV ROOM – CHAPTER 2**

The case Greg had been set to work with Warrick turned out to be a triple homicide with so many twists and turns and backups that it was going to take the entire week to wade their way towards the answers. The entire shift was spent simply photographing the myriad evidence from the house they were all found in, then the bodies were processed and taken away. By the time that was done, shift ended in a half hour and they both wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

The scene was cordoned off and sealed for them to come back to the next day as Greg slipped in beside Warrick in the Tahoe. He closed his eyes and searched blindly through his backpack on the floor for something, _anything_, with the consistency of food. He came up blank and groaned a little, making Warrick snicker since he'd thought to bring an apple. Greg tried to snatch it away but it was held out the window so he couldn't reach. When they got back to their workplace, they had just logged all the evidence and turned in their reports when Warrick made the move Greg had known he would.

"Greg man, sorry about getting Nick drunk," the African-American started. "I just thought…well you know it'd be your chance to speak up." Greg stopped walking and looked at him like he was suggesting Greg quit his job and become a hula dance. Which, he would be quick to tell you, he had the body for. But that wasn't the point. He snarled a bit and glanced around. The AV lab was empty, so he grabbed the other man by the arm and dragged them inside, shutting the sound proof door behind them.

"Excuse me?" he ground out from between him teeth. Warrick almost looked like he was going to back down for a minute before his face hardened and he crossed his arms.

"You heard me," he retorted. "You're killing yourself here Greggo; you've got to tell him. Getting him drunk is perfect. He'd never remember it the next day!" Greg's eyebrows disappeared in to his spiky hairline and his mouth dropped open a little. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"That's like suicide!" he said in a half strangled, half longing voice. "Even drunk he knows what he doesn't want. Look Warrick, I like where I live, ok? I'm not about to jeopardize the friendship that I worked so hard to build just to _get something off my chest_." Warrick narrowed his eyes and Greg glared right back at him. Sometimes, he wished that this wasn't the person he'd shared his secret with.

"Well you have to do it sometime. You can't go on like this," the tall man insisted. Greg sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward and praying to Nicky's god for some patience.

"Look, I have it under control, ok?" he asserted. Warrick looked dubious. "I mean, even when we sleep in the same bed it's-" Warrick's choking noise cut him off and he looked up to see the man darkening with a blush. His eyes were bugging out of his head a little too.

"Say _WHAT_? You sleep in his bed?" he demanded. Greg threw his hands up in the air. This guy just couldn't listen to a whole story before he leapt to conclusions. Greg really, really wished that it had been Catherine he had told about his crush. She would have been so much easier to deal with. She also would have listened better.

"Only when we have nightmares! It's totally platonic!" he clarified quickly.

"But not to you!" Warrick shouted back.

"It's just comfort! God, am I not allowed that?" He was yelling now too, and he could feel the back of his neck flushing with anger. Even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he had to privately concede that screaming at Warrick was a very good way of letting out all his stress. They'd never screamed at each other over this, but he was starting to think that maybe they should. It might calm him down more.

"Of course you're allowed comfort," Warrick was saying, "just not like that! Greg you know what that's going to do to you!" It was at this point that Greg realized that he didn't want to talk about it right anymore. Screaming was all well and good, but even thinking about giving up his nighttime escape made his insides shrivel. So he threw up his hands again in defeat for this round.

"I don't know why I talk to you about this, you're never on my side!" He yelled. He whirled and shoved the door open, striding purposefully through the lab. Warrick's voiced chased after him.

"I'm just watching out for you!" Greg didn't even turn as he shouted back.

"Well don't!" he yelled. He didn't mean it of course, and Warrick knew that. He was just…in love. And love did funny things to people, like make them scream at their friends as if it were all their fault. Greg fumed all the way to the lockers, but the banging sound when he threw his open gave him a small wake up call. There was nothing he could do about his situation short of extracting himself from it. And both he and Warrick knew that if he did that he might fade away to nothing. So this left him with only the same option he'd been riding for five years. Pretend.

By the time Sara appeared next to him, he'd pulled his façade around him with such completeness that she didn't even suspect something was wrong. They joked around, and he flirted like he always did. He was trying to get her to dance with him when Nick came in, and he hoped that his act was good enough. It wouldn't do to be found out this way.

* * *

**DELETED SCENE 3 – GREG IN BATHROOM AT SARA'S PARTY – CHAPTER 4**

Greg leaned shakily against the sink in the bathroom, breathing heavily. His head hung down between his arms for a moment before he glanced in to the mirror to see his own face. A small trickle of sweat ran down one temple, and he could see all the muscles contracting with the effort of holding himself in. Nick had been _right there_ between his legs; his head leaning back dangerously close to something precious. And all Greg had been able to think about was him just turning around and-

He cut his own thought off right there. It wouldn't do to get a hard on in the middle of a surprise birthday party for his boss. Greg looked down. It was a little too late. He sighed and looked back up, forcing himself to relax and watching as his face returned to a semblance of normalcy. Wryly he wondered when the last time was when he had actually felt normal.

After a few long minutes he had stopped breathing like he had run a marathon and his limbs were no longer shuddering like jello. He happily noted that his semi had also subsided, and he ran a hand through his hair without stopping to give it thought. Halfway through he realized it would mess with his 'do and he just barely managed not to squeal like a girl. He frantically looked in the mirror only to discover that his carefully wild hair was now all standing straight on end as if he'd stuck his finger in a light socket.

Greg groaned as searched through the cupboards for any type of hair product. Came up with nothing. He cursed Sara's un-girly tendencies and tried to reshape his hair with just the gel that was already there. It took a few more long minutes and it wasn't as good as it was before, but it passed his strict standards. If only barely. When it was done he stopped and looked in the mirror again.

"All right self. A list. Reasons I Am Not Allowed To Flirt With Nick Stokes When At A Work Party, Even If He Is Hot Beyond The Meaning Of The Word. Oh boy what a list."


End file.
